Reversal of roles
by mediaMental
Summary: Emily has an accident that causes her to lose a large amount of her memory. It's Naomi turn to fight for their relationship, to convince Emily of their connection, to save her family. Can she do it?
1. Chapter 1

**Hi so I had this idea floating round in my head for a skins fanfic and decided to give it a go. Spelling and punctuation are not really me strong suits. I also tend to write overly long sentences. But if you can overlook these things give it a read. **

She felt herself slowly become aware, the fog in her brain slowly lifting the sounds, smells and feel of things around her coming into focus. She felt a dull ache in her head and a hand clutching hers. It felt nice it was warm and soothing. As her brain began to recognise these things she began to try and work out where she was. She was definitely in a bed. She could feel the softness of the pillow and sheets wrapped tightly around her. She could hear loud continuous beeps and her nostrils were picking up a sharp clean smell. The sound couldn't be her alarm clock as that was set to wake her to the radio and the smell didn't remind her of the room she shared with her twin. She decide the only way to figure it out would be to open her eyes. Slowly she attempted to get them open managing to do so for a second before she closed them again her irises protesting the bright lights. 

"Nurse" she heard a voice she didn't recognise nearby saying "I think she was trying to open her eyes".

Despite the fact that she was fairly sure she didn't recognise the voice it seemed fairly excited that she might be waking up. It had said nurse that must mean she was in a hospital. This thought confused her greatly. The last thing she remembered was her last day of middle school. She remembers the final assembly, saying goodbye to all her friends and her sister being really excited about college because of all the fit guys there would be.

Despite the fact that this was her last memory she had a feeling that time had passed since then. Her legs felt longer than she remembered and she felt like she was quite a bit older and wiser than she had been in her school girl days. Deciding that the only way to find out exactly what was happening would be waking up she attempted once again to open her eyes. This time she was slightly more successful and after blinking several times she managed to keep them open holding them steady for a moment as the room can into focus. As it did she took in her surroundings.

"Emily" the voice from earlier said happiness in her tone.

She it seemed was the one holding her had and smiled widely at her from her seat on the left side of her bed. Her voice alerted both the nurse and Katie who was on the other side of the bed to my consciousness.

"Emsy" said Katie.

An older version of her than I remember confirming my belief that middle school was longer ago then my brain was trying to tell me. I smiled at her relieved she was there and I wasn't in a room of strangers. The next person to talk was the nurse.

"Emily do you remember what happened to you?" she asked checking my pulse and pulling the blankets back to start checking my reactions as she talked.

"No" I answered truthfully as she tapped my knee and my leg responded as it should.

She pulled back satisfied with her physical examination.

"Ok do you remember what day it is?" she asked clearly trying now to gauge my mental state.

"No" I replied again looking at both the worried faces of Katie and the woman holding my hand.

"What about the month"

"No" I said starting to get upset "and before you ask no I don't know what year it is"

The faces of the people in the room got even more worried and the warm hand holding mine began stroking the back of my hand with her thumb clearly trying to calm my mood. It felt nice but only upset me more as I looked up into her face and realised I had no idea who she was.

"Do you know who these two women are?" the nurse asked gesturing to my sister and the mystery lady.

"That's my twin sister Katie" I say confidently.

Katie smiles clearly pleased I can remember. Then I turn around to look at the other women. She is very beautiful she has blue eyes and bleach blonde hair. She smiles at me as I look at her and it makes me smile back despite the fact that she is a stranger to me. I look into her eyes again and a memory comes to me of a much younger girl who looks remarkably like her. It's at a middle school party. She and I talked and then ended up kissing before Katie came along and ruined the moment.

"Um I think I kissed her at a party in middle school" I say responding to the nurse's question after a few minutes of studying the lady's face.

"Her name is Nancy no that's not right um Naomi that's it." Clearly I've got it right as Naomi smiles at me and squeeze my hand in hers.

"Emily" the Nurse says her voice serious "it appears you are suffering from some serious memory loss. You where brought into the hospital about 4 hours ago after falling over at the mall. This fall while causing no long term physical damage did it seems hit the memory sector of your brain."

"How old am I" I ask looking at the faces around me "how much time have I forgotten."

"You're 28" says Katie taking my free hand in hers "I'm guessing if you last memory was some time during middle school then you've lost about 15 years."

"Fifteen years" I say feeling tears start to form behind my eyes.

The whole idea is overwhelming. I want to ask more questions find out what I've missed weather I can get my memories back but I can't. My head is a hurricane of emotions and questions. It feels like it's about to explode as I focus really hard to conjure up some recent memory to try and prove the Nurse wrong.

"Will she ever get it back" asks Naomi who is still faithfully sitting by my bed holding my hand. I find it interesting that she is as far as I know she is just a cute girl I kissed once. The fact she is still here must mean we are friends or something now.

"We can't be sure of that Mrs Campbell some patients eventually gain most of their memory back. Others regain bits and pieces. Some never regain the memories from their old life and are forced to start again. One thing we do know is that for those who do regain memories after head trauma is it familiar sights, sounds and smells that help them to do so. We also know that it usually doesn't all return at once but in random bits and pieces." The Nurse filled Mrs Campbell in professionally.

Wait Campbell Naomi Campbell this inner thought causes me to laugh out loud.

"You think it's funny" Katie asked annoyance in her voice.

"No" I say trying to control my laughter but controlling any of my emotions right now seems impossible "but her name is" I continue pointing to Naomi as Katie begins to laugh with me.

"It's good to see your sense of humours still intact" Katie says through her giggles clearly pleased to see that part of her little sister's still there.

"Yeah but its Mrs Campbell" turning my head to direct my speech at Naomi "at least your Mum didn't call you Naomi Campbell"

"Ha if only I was so lucky it is actually my birth name my mother is that cruel. Although she swears it was due to the fact she was doped out on pain meds. I actually have a hyphenated name." she explained nicely not at all annoyed it seemed by the fact that I was laughing at her.

Curiosity then gets the better of me and I have a deep need to find out why she is sat here by my bed side holding my hand when presumably she has a husband perhaps even a family waiting for her at home. This makes me wonder if perhaps I too am married. I looked down to my left hand which is clutched in Katie's but see no ring. There does appear however to be a tan line where one has clearly sat for a while.

"Am I married" I ask Katie wondering if the ring was merely removed on admission or if perhaps I'm recently divorced.

I don't think I am. I can't explain why just that I think I wouldn't get married unless I envisioned it lasting forever. On the other hand a lot of time has passed since I remember who I am and it is likely that in that time I too have changed.

"Yes" Katie answers simply looking across the bed at Naomi as if to ask for help.

Why would she be asking Naomi for help? Perhaps Naomi knows my husband perhaps mine and hers are good friends perhaps her and I are. I'm not sure but something definitely went down. Just then there is a knock on the door distracting me from pondering on the situation. Everyone looks up and at the door we see an aging blond woman holding a small child.

"Excuse me for just a moment" Naomi says getting up from her chair and heading for the door. When she reaches it she pushes it open and walks outside to talk to the older woman. As they stand side by side I see the resemblance and come to the conclusion that it must be her mother. Another thought that raised questions in her mind. Why would Naomi's mother be coming to see her at the hospital surely she could leave if need be. It wouldn't offend Emily if she left though her presence wasn't annoying her either just raising questions. If she were asked to admit it she would have to admit she actually quite liked having her there for some odd reason. Her attention was redirected to the door as she saw movement. The small girl was now in Naomi arms. Emily assumed this girl must be Naomi's daughter. She is now safely in her arms and was giving her a kiss and snuggling into her neck. Naomi returned the kiss then turned her attention to talking to her mother. The small girl it seemed soon got sick of being in her mothers arms and began to wriggle. She looked around and her eyes meet with Emily's. The small girl smiled wide and waved excitedly. She must know her she assumed from the enthusiasm she was directing at her. She waved back and smiled. She really was a cute wee thing with brown curly hair and bug shinning brown eyes. She must be a lot like her father though Emily decided because her resemblance to Naomi it seems was something she couldn't pick out.

She turned to ask her sister about it but she was fully engrossed in whatever boring soap was playing on the TV. This annoyed Emily somewhat because had it been Katie lay in her bed she would have been doing anything thing she could to make her feel comfortable. On the other hand she was kind of glade for the peace and quite for a moment to collect both her thoughts and emotions. She turned her attention back to the door just in time to see the little girl wriggling so much that Naomi put her down. Then very quickly she slipped her hand from her mothers and dashed into the room and over to Emily's bed.

"Mumma" she said smiling widely up at Emily "Feel better Mumma" She asked innocently.

Just as she said it Naomi came into the room realising the escape and Katie turned around to look at the little girl. She was calling me Mumma why was she doing that I assumed she was Naomi's daughter but perhaps she was mine. I didn't have much time to contemplate this as Katie voice broke my thoughts.

"Hey Kelly how about you come with Aunty Katie to get some lollies from the shop" she said obviously trying to get rid of the girl so I could collect my thoughts.

"Want to stay with Mumma" replied the girl holding her arms up to me like she wanted a cuddle.

My mind was going in over drive trying to figure out all the things going on and the next actions helped nothing. Naomi lifted the girl up in her arms and kissed her cheek.

"You go with Aunty now, you can come back and visit Mumma later ok" she said rubbing her back soothingly.

"Ok Mummy" she said relaxing in Naomi arms obviously having complete trust in her. "Love you Mummy" She said kissing Naomi.

"Love you too baby girl" Naomi replied before putting the girl down and turning to face me.

Katie looked at me and smiled before taking the small girls hand and leading her out of the room. This gave me a minute to think about the situation that had just occurred. The young child had appeared to call both me and Naomi her mother. That's odd perhaps my brains just muddled and I misunderstood her still underdeveloped language. There is no way both me and Naomi could be her mother was there? Unless I was a surrogate because she couldn't have children or vice versa, then perhaps I guess the child might call us both Mum. I still found this to be highly unlikely. Naomi must have noticed the confused look on my face.

"You must have a lot of questions" she says looking at me "I'll tell you whatever you want to know and leave out whatever you don't" she said.

This again seemed odd to me why would Katie leave Naomi to answer my questions when presumable her or perhaps my husband would surely know more about my life. Pushing this thought aside I decide to trust her and my sister's decision and start with my most pressing questions.

"Why was that child calling both you and me her mother did one of us carry a baby for the other or something?" I ask wanting to know if the beautiful wee girl was a part of me.

"Kind of" Naomi said biting her lip nervously as if searching for words to explain.

"Biologically she is your child you gave birth to her but legally we are both her parents".

I take in what she said for a minute then look at her puzzled.

"I don't get it why would you be her mother wouldn't my husband be the other parent to my child?"

She looks down at her hands and twisting her wedding band as if looking for some inspiration to the question there. She takes it off and hands it to me as if in some way it will answer my question. I look down at the gold band it is very beautiful. At first glance it looks like a normal plain gold band but on closer inspection it has an intricate design engraved into it. The engravings were of vines growing around the ring I traced it with my finger seeing that it joint together continuously circling the ring. I noticed an engraving on the inside of the ring too. I pulled it closer to my eyes to read what it says. It reads in beautiful italic script '_Naomi & Emily forever & always'. _Wow I wasn't expecting that.

"We're married?" I manage to voice looking at the woman before me who is apparently my wife.

"Yeah" Naomi replies looking up at me. I must look quite panicked I don't know what to say or how to react this is a lot to take in.

"B bb but we can't be" I stutter out "I'm not gay I can't be married to a woman".

I feel a little bad for saying this as I see a hint of sadness flash across Naomi face. It's gone again pretty quickly.

"I understand this is really hard for you Ems. It is hard enough having to admit that you're gay once. To do it again cause you can't remember the first time or anything about your life I can't imagine how that must feel. I just want you to know that whatever you need or whatever you want to know I'm here to support you."

All I could hear in her voice was sincerity. I looked at her amazed here was my wife well as far as I know. A wife I couldn't remember and was trying to deny, telling me that it was ok. That she would do whatever I needed. How could she be so nice why was she not upset and distraught. She put her hand in her pocket and pulled out her wallet. She opened it and I watched wondering what she was doing. She pulled out two small pieces of paper handing them to me. As she did I realised I still had her wedding band and handed that back to her. I looked down at what she had handed me and realised they were photos. The first one was of a very happy looking me and Naomi on what must have been our wedding day. We are both wearing beautiful white dresses. It is a candid shot we are on the dance floor Naomi's hands around my waist mine resting on her shoulders. The bit I like most about the picture is that I'm laughing. Someone must have done something really funny because I have my head thrown back mouth wide open eyes crinkling shut. Naomi is just looking at me like I'm the only thing in the room a wide smile on her face as if she's about to join in with my giggles. The other is of Naomi, a baby I assume is Kelly and I. It must be not long after I gave birth. I look all sweaty and tried yet I have the biggest smile on my face. I'm holding the baby in my arms and looking at her with complete awe. Naomi is sat on my hospital bed with me. Her arms are wrapped around mine helping me hold the baby. Her head is tucked lovingly into my neck and she too is looking at the child with awe and love.

"We look really happy" I say breaking the silence after a few minutes of studying the photos.

"We were,we are" she says "well this morning we were."

"I'm sorry I don't remember" I say feeling guilty.

"Don't apologise Ems it's not your fault. I understand ok. I love you but I'm not going to try and tell you why you should love me. I understand that right now I'm just a girl you kissed once. I'm not going to try and tell you who you are or what you should be thinking or doing. But I'm also not giving up on us. I love you Ems."

"What are you going to do then?" I ask.

"I guess I'm just going to have to charm you into falling in love all over again. You fought for us at the very beginning I guess now it's my turn."

"You make it sound easy" I say a slight laugh in my voice.

"No" she says smiling at me "I don't think it will be easy but I do think it will happen I have faith we are meant to be. That's something considering once upon a time I didn't really believe in anything. I find it kind of ironic really you had to do a lot of work to get me to believe I was gay and should be with you. Karma it seems may now be making me do the same." She says giving a little laugh at the end.

"Great so you think its funny I'm hurt and don't remember anything" I say harshly a little angry at the way she was talking.

"What no of course not, I would trade places with you in a second if I could you really think I'm enjoying the fact you can't even remember I'm your wife. I love you Emily Fitch and I will do anything I can to help you get through this."

"I'm sorry you are being really great my emotions and head are just all over the place. It doesn't seem real you know I feel like I'm going to wake up in my single bed, in my tiny room, next to my snoring sister any moment." I tell her.

She smiles at me taking my hand again then letting it go once she realised she had done it.

"Sorry" she says quietly. "I'm just so used to touching you I'll try to resist the impulse can't promise I won't slip up though."

"It's ok" I reply I really want to allow her to hold my hand but at the same time I feel like I need some time to figure things out.

"Ems" she starts "sorry I'll try and call you Emily. I know you need me to act differently than I would around you. I will just let me know if I'm freaking you out. I'll also leave when Katie gets back and give you some space. Talking with her it might help. I know right now you trust her a lot more than you do me. I understand that. Kelly though she's only two she's not going to understand this whole situation. So please Emily when she comes back just pretend. All you need to do is give her a kiss and a cuddle and tell her you lover her. Do you think you could do that? She wouldn't understand if her Mumma didn't. You really do love her with all your heart. She's our little angel our greatest achievement. I am willing to give you time and space in every other situation but I really just need you to pretend for our daughter's sake." She says emotion evident in her words.

I can see this whole situation is hard for her. I look at her face see she's trying to keep her face free of emotion but her eyes give away the turmoil going on within. She really must be a pretty amazing woman to be hiding that for my sake. I think about what she asked me to do and know it's the right thing. I know from the memories I have that any child I have would be my everything. Weather I get my memories back or not, weather I end up with Naomi or not, I know my child will be a part of my life. I'm not going to ruin her memories of me by hurting her now.

"Of course" I say looking at the relief that shows on her face "for her I can pretend just for a bit."

"Thanks Emily" She says kissing me softly on the forehead and then realising what she's done. 

The kiss felt nice relaxed me a little. My brains still going a mile a minute with all the information it's trying to process. I'm also a little nervous I won't be able to pretend to be a good mother but for a second while her lips were on my head that disappeared. While I want to tell her it's ok and to do it again as she pulls away with a mumbled sorry I can't. This is all too weird at the moment. I want to let her just be my wife and tell me all about our life together because I feel guilty and can see the pain she feels. But I can't because I too feel scared and sad and lonely. I want to trust her and all she has told me but right now I can't.

**So what's the verdict got some ideas in my head where this could be going. So if you want to see more flick me a review and some ideas if you have any. If it does go on some of the chapters will prob be from Naomi POV so we can get inside her head a bit too. **

**P.S I claim to know nothing about head injury or recovery so any inaccuracies in that area I apologise for.  
**

**:P **


	2. Chapter 2

Not long after the conversation Katie and Kelly returned to the room. As Naomi had suggested Kelly had wanted a cuddle before leaving. She had buried herself into Emily's neck and hair much like she had to Naomi earlier. She had to admit it felt good. She felt the love and trust of the little girl and it gave her a warm feeling inside. It made her feel even better when the small child gave her a sloppy kiss before leaving and uttered 'I love you'. As promised Emily had returned the sentiment not finding it hard at all. Emily felt something the moment she was placed next to her on the bed by Naomi. She knew she would have no trouble pretending to love the little girl. In fact she felt as if perhaps pretending would not be needed at all.

There was an awkward moment when Kelly had told Naomi that she too needed to give me a kiss. I could see her hesitate for a moment before leaning in a leaving a warm kiss to my cheek. Again I felt safe and calm for a moment. I could feel the love coming off Naomi. I had no doubt in my mind that she loved me but unlike with my daughter I wasn't willing to pretend and return it. Instead I smiled happily and waved as the two left the room. It made me feel a little sad as they walked away but Naomi promised to be back later I hoped she would bring Kelly with her. She it seemed was one of the few things I could trust in right now. The other was my twin sister who was now sat next to me, the only other person in my room. She looked at me expectantly as if waiting for some kind of reaction from me.

"So" she said apparently deciding to start this "what do you want to know Ems".

Such a simple question one that I'm sure had been asked millions of time before in different circumstances. Perhaps if I was in one of those I could have given my sister an easy answer but I wasn't. The question made my brain twist and twirl the few things it could remember round and round. I was searching for answers to questions that arose but found none. The sensation overwhelmed me and made me slightly dizzy. I sat becoming more and more confused before finally the only thing I could do was break down. The tears started to wet my cheeks slowly before picking up momentum and coming in steams. It started to get harder to breathe as I became more and more upset. Katie to her credit coped well. She climbed up on the bed next to me. She pulled me into her arms letting me cry into her neck. She rubbed my back making comforting noises in my ear letting me let go of my emotions.

Her perfume was different to what I remember it being and her hair and makeup more mature looking. Despite these differences her presence was just as warm and comforting as it always had been. She was the constant in my life the one person who I would always have. We had our differences and often I disliked the way she treated me but when it all came down to it I knew she would always be there. Right there in that moment with my sobs decreasing and my tears drying up I felt like she might be all I had.

After some time of just sitting there together cuddled up like we had done when we were younger and scared I pulled away.

"I'm sorry" I say a little embarrassed by my outburst.

"Don't apologise Emily it ok I can't even imagine what you're going through right now."

"It's crazy; I don't know what to think. I mean I want to believe the things Naomi said but it's so hard when I don't remember. How can I trust her?" I ask looking up at my older sister for advice.

"You remember after that kiss in middle school?" she asks.

I smile at her I don't know if she meant to but she just made me feel tons better. She asked me about a memory I can recall. For someone who feels like her whole life has just been taken away from her that feels really good.

"Yeah you hated Naomi called her a lezzer bitch told me that I shouldn't spend time with her. You said she'd try and convert me to her muff munching ways. Said that if I hung out with her people would think I was a lezzer too. That would mean I'd never get a boyfriend. You hated her so much." I recall seeing Katie look a little ashamed at the things I was describing.

"Yeah I was young and stupid back then Ems. I'm sorry about that. I will admit I did hate Campbell for quite some time. I was afraid and selfish but I've grown up a lot since then. I am no longer afraid of the impact your life will have on mine" she said and I could already see a huge difference between this woman and the girl I remember.

"What changed?" I asked "why don't you hate her anymore"

She smiles at me "Well there are a few answers to that. First of all I grew up and realised that it wouldn't be the end of the world if you were gay. That's when I came to tolerate her. Then I realised that she wasn't trying to take you away from me. That in fact she actually made the time we spent together better, you were happy and could finally be yourself around me. The final straw was that I sat back and looked at how happy she made you and how happy she continued to make you. It's kind of hard to hate someone who makes someone you love so happy. So we slowly became friends. Honestly she's a top bird Ems. Sometimes I get jealous of what you two have. Honestly if I could find a girl who treated me like she treats you I might just think about joining the Pussy Parade" she said laughing at her own joke.

"Don't lie Katie" I said laughing at her joke. My sister was the most heterosexual person in most rooms. I swear she could pick out a hot guy 3000 feet off the ground out of an aeroplane window.

"Ok so maybe not but she's alright and believe it or not the two of us actually really like each other now. She's almost as much of a sister to me as you are, sometimes you get jealous. Turns out we have quite a similar sense of humour and you feel on the outside of some of our jokes." She says happiness clearly in her voice.

"Wow" I say "never thought I'd see the day where Katie Fitch and Naomi Campbell were all buddy, buddy."

"Yeah well we have a pretty good reason to be so you know."

"Yeah" I say.

The information about Katie and Naomi being friends makes me trust the blonde haired women at little more but still I don't know what to think. After our one kiss in middle school, the only intimacy with another person I can remember, I had dreamed about a life with her. I had thought about a life where I would wake up in a warm bed and get to kiss her perfect red lips before heading off to works. Back then though all those thoughts were fantasy. I wasn't gay and neither was she. I told myself that the kiss had only felt amazing and special because it was my first. That in fact there were many more people, preferable boys, out there who could have just the same effect one me. So while Naomi was the woman of my fantasies, there was also a realistic dream for my future. It involved a man, one my family would approve of. Our life together was happy and normal and he made my lips warm and my heart beat faster just as Naomi had.

Waking up with fifteen years missing and people telling you your childhood fantasy is in fact a reality well that takes a bit of getting used to. I mean my thoughts back then were always of the fact that I wasn't good enough for her. I was just plain old Emily Fitch. I had also convinced myself that I liked boys. Now with all these things being thrown at me I was really confused. I looked at my sister who was still sat on my bed with me.

"What if she doesn't want me anymore?" I ask tears again spilling down my cheeks. "What if I've changed? I might like men now, I might like another girl. What if I'm not the same person and she can't love me anymore?" the tears continue to fall all my thoughts coming out in a flurry of words. They confuse me there is mixed messages in them. Maybe that's part of my problem. I'm not sure what scares me more right now. The fact that she might not be able to love me anymore and it will ruin my perfect life. On the other hand it might be the fact that I don't want her again ruining my perfect life. It is all so confusing. Logically from everyone else point of view I'm an adult I've been with Naomi for years and we love each other. What they don't understand is right now I feel like a teenager again. I feel like I want to ask this girl on a date but am scared of being rejected. Also so scared about what other people might think. About what my family might think. I did want to date Naomi she's beautiful how could I not. But in my mind I'm young and I also want to see what else is out there. How can I trust what other people are telling me? Couples appear to be happy all the time from the outside yet aren't. How would Katie know if I was truly happy? I know Naomi makes me feel warm and safe but I have nothing to compare that to. What if someone else out there can do more than that? This is all so confusing. I don't want to hurt anyone but I also can't just pretend.

Katie interrupts my thoughts "Emily I don't know what you're going through right now but if it's Naomi love your worried about don't. You can trust in her love as much as you can trust in mine."

Katie's words I know are meant to make me feel better but they don't they just cause more turmoil. I need to get off the topic of Naomi for a while. I don't think any amount of people telling me things is going to help me with that situation. I need to think about something else for a while give my brain a rest.

"What about our family?" I ask "what's going on with Mum, Dad and James?"

This manages to do the trick. Katie smiles at me apparently with loads of stories to share. It relaxes me for a bit. She fills me in on stories of my Dads recent ventures, my mother's horrible meals and antics of my pervy little brother. It is nice it makes me laugh and most importantly it helps me forget for a while the fact that I can't remember.

**So here's another chapter about whats going on in Emily's head. Hope you like it. The next one will be from Naomi's POV so we can really see how she's feeling. If your reading it and liking it let me know. Also if you have anything you'd like to see or characters you want involved let me know and I'll see what I can do. Thanks fro the reviews and fav's. Until next time. :P**


	3. Chapter 3

Naomi POV

I sat down on the couch with a sigh. It was the first moment I had gotten to myself since I got the call from Katie this afternoon. When we got back from the hospital I had made dinner for Kelly before giving her a bath and putting her to bed. I was trying to be as normal as possible for her. Despite this she was still scared and worried about her Mumma. Hell I couldn't blame her I too was sacred and worried. It had taken two extra stories tonight to get her settled. I had also had to answer her usual bedtime questions more than once. These consisted of

"Who you love most in the world Mummy?"

My answer of course as it always had to be was "you and Mumma."

This prompted my girl to ask "and then?" which would continue until I had named all the important people in our life.

After my little angel had fallen asleep I gathered up some stuff to take back for Emily. This took some time. I was unsure what I should take or what was appropriate. I ended up with a small pile of things. These included her ipod, some leftovers from our dinner, a few clothes, some trashy magazines and Mr Bear. Mr Bear was Kelly's teddy she never slept without him. Despite this she had told me I had to take him in for Emily. She had told me that Mumma never slept without me but she had to so she needed Mr Bear. It floored me how thoughtful she was. I mean she was two well two and a half if we're getting all accurate. She was meant to be grumpy and throw tantrums but instead she was thoughtful and empathic.

The visit to the hospital had been a little uncomfortable. Emily has seemed a little disappointed when I first arrived. Katie had acted as a nice buffer for us prompting conversation. Emily had seemed genuinely thankful for the things I had brought her. She had smiled widely at Mr Bear especially when Katie had explained the importance. The visit much like the one earlier had drained me. I had to spend my time resisting my natural urges. I wanted to hold her hand to kiss her and comfort her. She looked so confused like the teenage girl I meet in college who didn't quite know who she was. Then again I suppose that is sort of who she is right now.

So after two draining visit with my wife and an evening of trying to act normal for my daughter I felt almost relieved to relax on the couch. I'm just turning the telly on to kill my brain with that reality rubbish that seems to rule it these days when my mother enters the room.

"How's Kelly" I ask looking up at her and throwing the remote back on the coffee table without using it.

"She's a little unsettled woke up a wee while ago, just gone back down now" she replies sitting down next to me.

"I should go check on her" I say moving to get up, not getting far as my mother puts a hand on my knee stopping my movement.

"My granddaughter is fine she was just a little surprised when she woke up without Mr Bear. We had a chat and Nana told her a special story putting her right back in the land of nod. Right now I'm concerned about my daughter"

"Emily's fine Mum" I say "Doctors say apart from the memory loss all is good they expect her to be able to come home tomorrow afternoon all going to plan."

"That's good to hear love but I wasn't asking about Emily. Although she is like a daughter to me I want to know how you are" she said looking at me seriously.

"I'm fine mother" I say simply "it's Emily you should be worried about she's the one who's in the hospital bed not me."

"Naomi I'm your mother so you can cut the act with me. I know you're trying to be brave and strong for your wife and child right now and you're doing a great job. But right now your daughter is sound asleep upstairs and your wife isn't here. You can talk to me ok. I'm here for you and you're allowed to be upset by the situation"

"But I can't mum" I say my voice cracking with emotion "she's alive and she's well how can I complain when I still have her. How can I be angry at the situation when on the way out of the hospital I saw a couple grieving for their lost son? When last week I read about a car accident that took a woman's three children and her husband?"

"Naomi dear" my mum says taking my hand in hers "this isn't about someone else's situation or who is worse off. Your wife is in hospital and can't remember the last fifteen years of her life. Effectively she doesn't remember who you are. I don't care how you think you should feel I want to now how you do feel."

"How do you think I feel mum" I yell "Do you know what I was doing this time last night? My wife and I were curled up together on this couch giggling about the movie we were watching in between making out like teenagers. Now she will barely let me touch her. How the fuck do you think I feel?" I ask bursting into tears.

My mother just pulls me into a hug. Bringing my head to rest on her chest and stroking hr finger through my hair. It feels good after trying to look out for everyone else today, feels nice to have someone to look after me. So I let the tears flow and I let my mother look after me.

"What's going through your head Naomi?" she asks as my tears slow "Talk to me. You can't be strong for everyone else if you don't let yourself feel what you need to feel" she says.

I hesitate for a moment. I want to talk I need to talk about it but at the same time I am reluctant to. If I talk about it, it somehow makes it more real. If I share my fears with my mother I feel like they are more likely to come about. Then again if I don't I feel like I might crack under the pressure at the wrong time. I might act erratically and push Emily too hard, or even worse scare Kelly in some way.

So after an intense internal debate about the possible pro and cons of taking I decided opening up to my mother probably is the best scenario.

"I'm scared" I start "I'm so scared I'm going to lose her. I'm scared that she won't ever remember or she'll just gets some memories back but only of bad times. I mean what if all she regains is that shit time in college. Would you want to be with someone if the only thing you could remember was them making you miserable?" I ask tears beginning to fall again.

"Aw love" she said sympathetically "you know Emily's got you and Katie to tell her all about her life. It doesn't matter if she never remembers like you said to me she's still here you still have time. You have time together to create many more memories."

"But but what if she doesn't want to? What if she won't give me a chance? I know Katie's been telling her all about her life but she wants proof mum. She's confused right now. She's so confused but she doesn't need people telling her what to feel and what to think. She needs to figure things out by herself. I know if I were in her situation I would want to pull in the opposite direction to what everyone was pushing me in. I have to be careful mum."

"You know Emily better than anyone love. Seems to me you know exactly what you're doing. I want you to hold onto that alright. You hold onto the fact that you two are meant to be together and that you know her well enough to win her back."

"But what if she's changed? What if I can't?" I ask my wavering voice sounding pathetic compared to its normal strong confidence.

"Love Emily's had a bump to the head she's lost her memory not who she is. Didn't you tell me she remembers your first kiss? That's something Naomi. The fact that the person she remembers being was someone who wanted to kiss you that's a good thing. Besides you don't know that she won't get her memory back"

"But I don't know that she will either. What if she does come back to me but she never remembers what if we lost all that time?"

"Do you remember the first time you called me Mummy?" she asked making me pull my head back from her chest and look at her confused.

"No, but I don't see how that's relevant" I say

"I do" she says "I remember it and its one of my happiest memories."

"Do you have a point" I ask my tone annoyed. I mean does she really think I want to be reminiscing about all the wonderful times in her life. Right now mine is like a house of cards on a windy day.

"Yeah Love I do give me a minute. What about the first time you and Emily held Kelly at the hospital do you think Kelly remembers that?"

"No apparently I'm the only one who still remembers that." I say the hurt and frustration clear in my voice.

"Does that make it any less special though. So Kelly doesn't remember it, it still happened and it's special for you. The same applies for Emily love. Doesn't matter if she never remembers all the memories you've made. You still made them and they can still be precious to you."

My mum and her ultimate wisdom, her logic really did make me feel a little bit better. I mean I was concerned that if Emily didn't remember then it would be like it didn't happen. But Mum was right no one can change what has already been. No matter what happened no one can take what we had.

"And" my mum continued interrupting my thoughts "as far as getting her to fall in love with you again you have a head start. You know what she likes probably better than she does right now."

"Yeah I do" I say smiling thinking of all the unique things my girl loves.

"That's the spirit love. You can cry and be sad all you want but I also want you to look on the bright side too. No point in worrying about the worst until you have to, right? You let your old Mum prepare the emergency kit and you just work on getting your girl back. If worst does come to worst I'll be here ready to help pick up the pieces."

"Thanks Mum" I say pulling away from her. She really did help a lot. I mean she hadn't told me everything was going to be fine because no one knows that it is. Instead she had brought me back to earth again and shown me that it's just as if not more likely, to go the other way to.

"It's what I'm here for. Now what is the last happy moment you remember with Emily?" She asks smiling at me. I return it thinking of my wife.

"That's easy" I say feeling much better sometimes a good chat and reality check does wonders. Of course I was still feeling worried and confused but my mother had raised my hope. That hope was something I was going to need to win my wife over. "It was this morning before she went shopping with Katie. She kissed me and Kelly goodbye told us to have fun. Then just as she walked out the door she told me she would by us something nice and winked. I knew exactly what she meant. She was going to buy her something nice that I would appreciate probably more than she did. When Katie rang from the hospital I thought it was Em's ringing to tease me about what she'd got."

"Good" Said my mother smiling "well you just hold onto that dear. Let that be your motivation along with all the other memories. I don't think anyone's going to let Emily walk away from her family but your actions are going to be the most important to bring her back."

"Thanks Mum" I say giving her a final hug. She really did know how to talk me down and let me sort out my emotions. She was right it was only day one, so much could change, Ems could wake up tomorrow with her memory back to normal. Or it could take months for me to win her back. No matter what though I still had my memories and our beautiful little girl and that's what mattered.

"Think I'm going to hit the hay now long day and all that" I say standing up from the couch.

"Course love I'll see myself out"

I walked up the stairs checking in on Kelly seeing my little angel sound asleep. I smiled and watched her for a minute. She looks just like her stunning mother. I smile as she opens her mouth and lets out a cute little snore. Yeah just like her Mumma. Leaving her doorway I walk into our room. The bed is a mess sheets and duvet all over the place. Kelly had come into wake us up this morning and it had resulted in a fierce tickle fight. I smile at the memory thinking it seems so far away with all that had happened in the hours since. Slowly I changed and adjusted the bed before hopping in. It felt a little awkward at first because I had chosen to sleep on her side of the bed. Once I buried my head in her pillow and pulled the sheets up around me I relaxed. They smelt strongly of her perfume and more faintly of our nightly activities. We had not bothered to change the sheet this morning both knowing that tonight would only soil them further. So I lay body beginning to wander off to sleep mind musing all the ways I can woo Emily. Of all the romantic gestures I can act out to get her attention. I know I need to be creative my girl likes clichés but she likes originality more. I drift of to sleep surrounded by her scent, mind running through the multitude of scenarios to win her over.

**Hey so here's another one. I apologise for any spelling or grammar error's like I said at the start not my strong suit. Thanks for all the reviews and alerts. For those of you asking about what Naomi was feeling hope you got the answer you wanted. You were right she is a mess. Hope you enjoyed. **


	4. Chapter 4

"Mumma" Kelly said rushing into the room and hightailing it towards Emily's bed. She had been asking since the moment she came into my room at 6.30 this morning when we could go visit. I had managed to get her to cuddle up in bed with me for a little while before she insisted it was time to get up and go visit. So here we were at a little after 8am making our way loudly into Emily's room. Emily it seemed was still asleep well she was before the two of us entered. She slowly sat up in bed rubbing her eyes looking slightly confused. She looked very adorable. Her hair all over the place and Mr Bear held tightly in her arms.

"Mr Bear helps you sleep Mumma?" Kelly questioned standing next to Emily's bed smiling widely.

"Yeah he did baby girl, Mr Bear helped me sleep really well. How did Mumma's angel sleep without Mr Bear?"

"OK Mumma but I want a cuddle." She replied, looking up at Emily with her big brown eyes. Some times she reminded me so much of her mother. I swear either one of them could get me to do almost anything. The two of them together was even worse.

"Course Baby" she said looking at me gesturing that I needed to give Kelly a hand.

I lifted Kelly up onto the bed and sat down on the chair next to it. I couldn't help but smile at my two girls. Emily was really doing a good job with Kelly. I could tell my daughter had not inkling that Emily knew nothing about her. Then again Emily always had been a natural mother. Form the moment Kelly was born she instinctively knew what to do. It took me a little longer but Ems was there with me the whole way. She was always so supportive showing me better ways without criticising what I was doing.

"Mumma" Kelly said interrupting me from my thoughts "you coming home soon?"

Emily looked caught for a moment as if she didn't know what to say. We had briefly discussed it yesterday when I visited. She had indicated a want to be with Katie for a while. I understood this completely. I mean her twin was the only person she really knew right now. I had suggested that maybe both she and Katie could stay in our guest room. Katie had thought it was a great idea Emily on the hand didn't seem so keen. As I looked at her guilty face now I realised that she must have decided she was going to stay with Katie. I guess that wouldn't be so bad. I mean Katie lived in a fairly nice apartment only about 5 minutes from our home. Emily would still be close if Kelly needed her and would have time to sort out her head. Despite my understanding it still hurt. My wife was choosing to sleep on the couch at her sister's one roomed apartment instead of in one of the comfortable twin beds in our spare room. Granted she probably didn't realise just how nice our house was and what she was passing up but hey I'm allowed to feel a little hurt on the inside. On the outside I remained perfectly calm and cool. I could see Emily was stuck for an answer so being the lovely person I am decided to take this one for her.

"Mumma is actually going to be staying with Aunty Katie for a bit." I tell my daughter. She looks sadly up at Emily.

"But why Mumma?" she said her voice sad and confused "What bout me and Mummy?"

Emily again looked stumped for an answer so again I decided to give her a hand. We were after all a parenting team despite the fact she couldn't remember.

"We can still visit her there Baby and she can come see us. It's just that Aunty Katie really needs to spend some time with Mumma right now. Aunty Katie is a bit lonely so Mumma said she'd keep her company." I said making up a white lie. I felt bad for not telling Kelly the truth. Then again it is our jobs as parents to keep our children safe from some truths and keep them innocent as long as possible. Beside it wasn't too much of a lie, replace Katie being lonely with Emily and it was probably spot on.

"Yeah that's right Angel. Mumma needs to keep Aunty Katie company for a while but I still love you very much." Emily says looking down at our girl. I can tell she's feeling a little guilty about not being at home for Kelly.

"I like Aunty house" Kelly said excitedly "She lets me feed Oscar when we comes to visit. I love Oscar and I love you too Mumma." She say cuddling close to Emily looking like she might fall asleep in her comfortable position. I envy my daughter just a tiny bit right now. I wish I could be cuddled up into Emily's side, breathing in the warm comforting scent. Emily wraps her arms tighter around our little bundle and smiles down at her. Obviously enjoying the hug as much as Kelly, I wish I could be a part of that. I think back to last week when we had all been cuddled up on the couch watching Sherk together. Kelly had been laid out her head on my lap and her feet on Emily's. Emily had herself leaned toward me head resting on my shoulder, one hand linked with mine the other rubbing slowly up and down Kelly's back. I let me self remember the feeling as I watch my two favourite people. Cuddled up on the couch I had felt so safe and loved. I slowly let it drift from my mind telling myself that my future would be filled with many more moments just like that one. Emily's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Think she's asleep" she said amused. I looked down at her and sure enough Kelly was sound asleep snuggled into her mother's chest.

"You always did have the magic touch" I replied smiling "for the first two weeks of her life she wouldn't sleep anywhere but in your arms or rested on your belly. It was so cute I'd get in from work and find you napping together."

Emily smiled at the information, unconsciously running her hand up and down our daughters back.

"That must have been annoying never being able to do anything while she was sleeping." I laugh at her reply.

"You loved it, gave you an excuse to laze around and leave me all the cleaning up." I said jokingly.

"Hey that doesn't sound like me. I'm an excellent cleaner I beat I'm the perfect house wife. Cooking and cleaning all day while your out earning the crust." She replies looking at me a slight glint in her eye. It felt good to be talking to her like this joking round together.

"Actually we both work. I do four days a week you do three. It means Kelly only has to go to day care two days a week. It works really well but if you're so into this house wife thing feel free to give up your job and become one."

"Ha you wish" she says smiling at me, then her smile fades and her face grows serious. "What if I've changed Naomi? What if I don't like the same things anymore, what if I'm a completely different person? You might not love me anymore, Kelly might not love me."

"Emily Fitch don't be so silly. Kelly is your daughter her love is unconditional. Do you really think she'd sound asleep like that if she didn't love and trust you? As for me I can't believe you've changed so much I wouldn't love you. You could change your job, your friends and all the different things you like and if you were still willing to have me I'd be right there. If you really want to you can go back to University and become at student again and I'd still be right there." I say trying to convince her as my mother had convinced me last night.

"I think I'll stick with my job Naoms, I quiet like being a Social Worker you know." Emily replied getting a shocked expression shortly after.

"Are you all right Emily what's wrong" I ask worried as her faces remains the same and she starts tapping the side of her head.

"I just called you Naoms and I told you I like being a Social Worker. I don't know I'm a Social worker and I don't know I call you Naoms. Do I? Am I?" she asks confusion coming across in her tone. I smile reassuringly at her.

"Yeah you do and you are. I thought Katie must have told you, it's great that you seem to know a few things." I say feeling the small ball of hope I have growing just a little.

"It's weird though, I don't really remember. The words just kind of came out my mouth and I didn't realise they were true until my ears heard me mouth say them. I know it sounds really strange but it's like my brain was working without my participation."

"That does sound strange but it has to be a good sign right. I mean the fact that you managed to say that must mean your memories are in there somewhere you just have to find them." I encourage. Letting the hope grow a little more, I mean it's only been one day and she is already recalling small things. If it continues like this she could have most of her memory back in no time. I put the brakes on my escalating thoughts and look over at Emily again. She looks kind of confused. I know it must be hard thinking about her memory loss. She is someone who constantly overanalyses things. I need a way to distract her and keep her here with me instead of inside her head.

"While we have the chance why don't we talk about Kelly? It's probably a good idea for you to know a bit of stuff because our girl here is pretty intelligent. She'll pick up on things if I'm always answering for you."

"Sounds like a smart plan."

It was nice. For the last half hour or so the two of them had been chatting. They had laughed together and joked and it felt just like their usual rhythm. Naomi had informed Emily of some of Kelly favourite things. Emily had in turned commented and asked to hear stories about certain events in Kelly's life. Despite the fact that her memory had gone Emily managed to carry on a stimulating and somewhat intellectual conversation.

"I like talking to you" Emily said interrupting her from her thoughts. "It's nice you seem to know just what to say."

"Yeah" I say laughing "Well I also know just what to say to get you all riled up and annoyed. I figure it doesn't really align with the whole make you fall in love with me charming personality."

"No probably not, I was relying on Katie to tell me what a bitch you are but apparently you two are the best of friends now." She says smiling widely.

"Yeah well you're not the only one surprised. Some days I still don't believe it."

Just then the hospital door flew open revealing the topic of our conversation. She walked in confidently smiling at us both.

"Hey Naomi, hey Em's how are we?" she asks wandering over to a seat near the bed.

"We're good" I reply catching myself and deciding to change my reply. "Sorry what I meant to say is I'm good Katie, Emily of course can speak for herself."

"Yeah I'm good too thanks Sis. Got woken up by a little munchkin this morning, said munchkin then decided that I was the perfect place to sleep." She replies humour evident in her voice. I can't help but laugh loudly.

"Think its funny do we" she said in mock anger "I think we might just have to enact revenge, don't you think Katie. I'd watch your back Naomi, I'm going to find a time when you least expect it and wake you without warning." She said evil glint in her eye.

"What that's not fair it wasn't even me" I moan gesturing to Kelly who is still sleeping soundly.

"Yeah well what can I say she's just cuter than you, I could never take revenge on a face that cute." She retorts.

"She's right Naomi" Katie says smiling at our interaction.

"No please I don't want to be on the receiving end of a wrathful Fitch." I mockingly cry cowering with my hands over my head. "Please I'll make it up to you, both of you. How about you both come over to dinner tomorrow, I'll cook you favourite meal Emily and make your favourite pudding." I suggest enticingly.

"Deal Em's take the deal; Naomi here is a magician in the kitchen." Katie pipes in.

"Mmm, well those leftovers last night were pretty good. What's this meal you're going to cook?" she asks looking at me with a raised eyebrow as if this would sway her decision entirely.

"Well that's for me to know and you to find out tomorrow isn't it. I will promise this though it will be the best thing you've ever eaten." I retort confidently smirk in place.

Katie laughs from her chair. "I'm not so sure about that Naomi. Emily always told me that was something else entirely, but we probably shouldn't mention those things with small ears in the room."

I looked at Katie as she continued to laugh looking for a witty reply to shut her up but coming up with nothing. Emily looked slightly embarrassed by the remark. She too looked like she was searching for words to shut her sister up. Lucky for us we were all interrupted when a Doctor entered the room.

"Hello all" she said smiling widely "I know we said you could go home this afternoon Emily but we actually may be able to send you home a little sooner. I need to do a final exam and if everything checks out we should have you checked out in the next hour."

"Sounds good Doc" Emily said smiling widely. "Naomi can you take Kelly so the Doctor can do her thing please?"

So I scooped up the sleeping child and the Doctor when about her business. She spent about 15 minute checking Emily over and asking her various questions. I sat holding a still sleeping Kelly and quietly chatting with Katie.

"Right Miss Campbell" the doctor said looking at me as she wrote a few final things on Emily's chart. "It looks like all is well for Emily to go home but there are a few things I need you to keep an eye on"

"Excuse me" Emily said interrupting the doctor's words. "A. It's actually Mrs Fitch-Campbell, B. I will actually be staying with my sister for a while and C. I'm right here so if there are certain things I need to know after my release, then I suggest you tell all of us." She finished. She then looked as if she realised what she had just said.

"Sorry Doctor" she then said looking sheepish "It just kind of happened again. My brain said things without me really knowing it. I mean I don't even really know her name is Mrs Fitch-Campbell." She said gesturing at me.

"It's quite alright Emily. The fact you are recalling things even unknowingly is a good sign. Also you are in fact correct it was rude of me to be talking about you like you aren't even in the room. What I was going to say to I should say to all three of you."

So the doctor told us the things Emily would need to do that might help her situation when she was released. Then finally she left us saying Emily was free to go but that she had an out patient appointment next week.

"So" I said somewhat awkwardly "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah" Emily said smiling "we'll see you tomorrow, what time?"

"Um I have to go into work for a few hours tomorrow so I was actually wondering if you might like to look after Kelly for the day?" I say seeing a huge smile spread across Emily's face. She obviously loved spending time with her daughter. This made me smile too. It was good to know despite all the other stuff going on that Kelly still had two loving parents.

"Yeah definetely"

"Ok well how about I drop her off around 10 and then you bring her when you come for dinner around 5?" I ask.

"Sounds good" Emily replies.

I look to Katie to confirm the plan and she is just smirking at the interaction between the two of us. I look down at Kelly stroking her hair lightly.

"Kelly" I whisper in her ear. "Kelly wake up beautiful you need to say good bye to Mumma."

She slowly opens her eyes looking up at me from my shoulder snuggling into it.

"Going to give Mumma a kiss baby girl?" I ask "we're going home now so you won't see her till tomorrow."

"Yeah" she says wiggling to be let down. I put her on the floor and she walks over to Emily who's now sitting in one of the chair's sorting through the bag of clothes I had brought her last night. Kelly climbs her way onto her lap sitting on the bag making Emily laugh.

"Bye Mumma" Kelly said giving her a sloppy kiss on the cheek followed by another on the lips. "Love you".

"Love you too baby see you tomorrow" she replied.

Kelly then hopped down and ran over to Katie to repeat the process. I made my way over to Emily while she was doing this.

"Got to keep up our appearances" I said looking over a Kelly.

"Yeah, guess so" she replied standing up.

I pulled her into a tight hug. It felt so nice as she wrapped her arms around me in return for a few second, before letting go.

"See you tomorrow" I said placing a light kiss on her cheek.

"Yeah tomorrow" she said "I look forward to it."

With that Kelly and I left hand in hand. I felt so much better than I had leaving the hospital the night before. Emily and I felt like we might be moving forwards. We had certainly chatted like old friends today. I could definitely see the woman I loved in her. One day on from Emily's accident and I felt like things were already starting to get better. I just hopped than things continued that way and this wasn't a one step forward two steps back sort of process.

**Well there we go the next chapter hopped you like it let me know. Thanks for all the reviews and alerts they really make me smile. **


	5. Chapter 5

"Mummy" Kelly yells running to Naomi for a hug. We had just arrived back from our day together for the dinner Naomi had promised. I smile watching the two hug. It's nice how excited Kelly gets to see us both. She had been just as enthusiastic in her greeting of me this morning. It's really nice to know that someone loves you so much they're excited to see you even after just a few hours.

"Hello Emily, Katie" Naomi says walking over to greet us.

"Hey" I say smiling at her. "We brought wine" I continue holding out the two bottles of red Katie and I had picked up earlier.

"Great looks like it should go nicely with dinner." She replies taking the bottles from me. "I'll just pop these in the kitchen come in and take a seat I won't be a second."

Katie leads the way and I follow her into the house taking note of the tasteful décor. It really is a very nice place. It's got a sort of modern homey feel to it. I think it must have cost a lot to buy and furnish. Katie leads me into what must be the living room. We take a seat on one of the large leather sofas and I take a look around this room. You can tell a family lives here. There are beautiful framed photographs scattered nicely throughout the room. I smile as I look at some of the pictures of Naomi and I goofing round and Kelly smiling cheekily.

"Here we go" Naomi says entering and handing Katie and me generous glasses of wine. "Now where's my little scallywag I want to hear all about her day."

"I'm here Mummy" Kelly says walking over from behind one of the couches. She climbs up on the couch Naomi has sat on and leans into her side.

"So how was your day did you have fun with Mumma and Aunty Katie?" she asks.

"Yeah I haves lots of fun. I went and visited Grandma and I got to take Oscar for a walk. Then me and Mumma made cookies and we saw Nana too." She exclaimed excitedly.

"Wow that does sound like a good day." She says smiling down at Kelly. "Do you want to go upstairs and play for a while before dinner?"

"Yip" Kelly replies sliding down off the couch. "I gots to tell dolly about the cookies I baked." With that she ran off upstairs. I couldn't help but smile. Despite the fact that I couldn't remember having her I was so proud of her and how amazing she was. I really do love her its almost impossible not to.

"So you saw my mum?" Naomi asks breaking me from my thoughts and drawing my attention back to her.

"Yeah we ran into her in the supermarket actually, she seems really nice." I said remembering the warm welcoming feeling I had got from the woman.

"Yeah she is to you. I swear some days that women loves you more than she does me" she says laughing.

"Ha come on Nai don't lie she always loves Ems more, sometimes she like me better than you." Katie pipes in.

"Whatever." Naomi huffs. I'm just going to check on dinner I'll be back in a minute.

I take a sip of wine as I watch her walk away. Damn was I just checking out her arse? Maybe I was but then I guess I'm allowed to and it is a pretty fine arse.

"So" Katie says breaking me from my inner thoughts "like what you see there pervy?"

"Shut up." I retort immaturely. "Besides" I continue "pretty sure this mean I can perve as much as I like." I pick up my wedding ring from where I have it hung around my neck. I wasn't quite sure what to do with it when I left the hospital. I didn't feel like I should wear it properly it would say too much. At the same time I felt like not wearing it at all might not say enough. I felt like I had come to a nice middle ground.

"Yeah I guess so, you're going to be with her again right?" Katie asks. "I mean you have to you two need each other."

"I don't know Katie." I say honestly "I mean I know I feel something for her but right now it's like my life is a book I haven't read. There are all these people telling me how great it is and that I should read it but they're not me. I mean what if we don't like the same books. It's like a second hand account and I don't get to have my perspective on it."

"I'm sorry Ems I'll try harder to understand. It's just hard for me to grasp. Yesterday morning we were talking about what to buy Naomi for her birthday and now you don't even remember when that is."

It's hard you know seeing other people affected by my memory loss. I understand that it's natural that they are but I don't know what to do about it. I see that my sister, Naomi and my parents are struggling. Yet I feel like there is nothing I can do. I can't make them feel better by pretending. That would be cheating myself. I know that sounds selfish but I need to figure out who I am again. It may very well be exactly who they say, but I need to see that for myself. I need to read the book and experience it from my own perspective. More than one great review on a book doesn't give me every little insight into how I will see the story.

"Everything is great with the food" Naomi says re-entering the room "it should be ready in about five minutes. Did you want to go and get Kelly sorted while I dish everything up" she asked looking at me.

"Yeah sounds good" I reply moving out of my seat.

"It is the purple door up the stairs end of the hall you can't miss it" she informs me.

"Thanks" I say making my way upstairs.

I spent time admiring more of the house on the way. I must admit I or I guess Naomi and I had good decorating taste. When I reached the top of the stairs I spotted Kelly's room straight away. As Naomi had assured it was hard to miss. It was a nice room for a child. Each wall was painted a different bright colour. I could also tell Kelly was quite spoiled as she seemed to own more toys than anyone could need. It was nice to see she didn't just have dolls and tea sets. I hated it when children where forced into certain toys and hobbies merely because of their gender.

"Mumma" Kelly smiled looking up from her toys.

"Hey baby girl, dinners ready so we better wash our hands and go downstairs."

Ten minutes later we were all sitting in the dinning room with a plate full of delicious looking food in front of us. Naomi really had gone to a lot of trouble. She had made salad and pasta which Emily had to admit was absolutely amazing. Each mouthful felt like the flavours were softly caressing her mouth. Then again she did grow up with Jenna's cooking. Perhaps all the terrible cooking she had eaten meant that anything mildly good passed as gourmet in her books.

"Mmm this is great Naomi" Katie said.

"Yeah, not bad" I agree smiling at Naomi as she looks up towards me.

"This is my favourite" Kelly added from her seat at the table. Naomi had made her something slightly different to us. Instead of a sophisticated pasta dish she had good old mac'n'cheese. Naomi had made it a little heather adding some veggies so Kelly got her five plus a day.

"Want to try some Mumma" she asks holing her spoon in my direction.

I hesitate for a moment not quite sure what to do. I look at Katie who nods her head at me. She's right of course I do I mean how could I ever say no to Kelly. I take the spoon from Kelly putting it into my mouth.

"Wow" I exclaim impressed. "How come I don't get any of that?" I ask looking at Naomi. "You promised me the best meal ever but apparently you dished that up on Kelly's plate. I mean this is really good." I say pointing at the pasta in my bowl. "But that, that doesn't even have words to describe how good it is"

"Ok" Naomi say getting up from the table and walking towards the kitchen. She returns a moment later with a plate full of mac'n'cheese and a bottle of wine. She places the plate in front of me then tops up both mine and Katie's wine glasses.

"Happy?" she asks taking her place again. Her tone tells me she's not annoyed at all. In fact the small smile on her face tells me she is actually quite happy.

"Very much so" I reply returning the smile. "Now I have two yummy pastas."

"You always were a greedy one Ems." Katie says through her laugh.

"Yeah just make sure you save room for dessert." Naomi added.

For the next wee while there was some polite conversation but most of the time was spent devouring Naomi amazing dinner. All of the salad and almost all of the pasta was cleaned up by the time the three of us had finished on it. Kelly had done a fair job too managing to eat all of her plate of food. I groan contently leaning back in my chair relaxing a little.

"I agree" Katie says taking a position similar to mine rubbing lazy circles on her stomach.

"Top up ladies" Naomi says pouring more wine into our glasses. I've already had two full glasses and am starting to feel the alcohol give me a nice warm buzz.

"You trying to get us drunk Campbell?" Katie asks while taking another mouthful of the wine.

"Yeah it's all part if my evil plans" she mocks.

"Mummy I finished all my dinner can I have some ice cream?"

"Yeah you can baby girl but then it's bed time ok" Naomi negotiates. "Why don't you two move into the living room, I get the feeling you two aren't quite ready for dessert yet. I sort Kelly out then I'll be in too."

So Katie and I make our way back to the comfortable couches. They felt even nicer with my satisfied stomach and slightly tipsy brain. We sit chatting for a while about this and that before Naomi comes back into the room. While she's been gone Katie and I had both finished our third glasses of wine and I'm feeling quite sloshed and loose tongued. I let myself look at her something I hadn't really done too much. I didn't want to give her any false hope. Now that my brain was under the influence of alcohol it decided it wanted to look. She was amazingly pretty there was no denying it.

"Umm if you're finished staring at me Kelly's all tucked in but she wants a kiss from Mumma and Aunty."

"Course" Katie slurs slightly standing and taking a minute to gain her balance. I get up following her up the stairs. When we enter Kelly's room she just has her face peeking out from under her Winnie the Pooh blanket. I walk over and sit on the edge of the bed.

"Goodnight baby, sleep well." I say placing a soft kiss on her forehead.

"I will Mumma. I love you" she says looking up at me.

"Mumma loves you too" I rely giving her one more gentle kiss before stroking her hair and moving away. Katie goes through a similar process before we both return downstairs. Naomi is sitting in the living room a deck of cards on the coffee table in front of her.

"What's all this then?" I ask taking a seat across from her, Katie sitting down beside me.

"Well I thought we could play a game of poker or something"

"Sounds good I guess but first I want the dessert I was promised."

"Yeah we want dessert" Katie affirms for me.

Naomi just smiles walking from the room and returning with a tray. The tray contains three plates each with a large piece of cheese cake on it.

"Yum" Katie says as Naomi places one of the plates in front of each of us. I picked up the spoon and took a mouthful of my own.

"Wow" I say mouth still full of the exquisite berry cake. "I think this cake here means you're officially forgiven for waking me up. It's amazing." I say greedily taking another mouthful.

"To right" Katie agrees next to me. "What'd I tell ya Ems she a flipping wizard in the kitchen"

"Yeah well I like to see things for myself but I think I'm going to have to agree with you on this one." I reply through another amazing mouthful of the cake.

"It's always a pleasure to please you two ladies, well people. All the talking with her mouth full Emily's done I'm not sure if lady is the correct term." Naomi laughs.

"Hey" I exclaim though another mouthful of food probably proving her point "I recent that I am so a lady but I can't really point out any examples right now because I don't remember."

"I remember I thing or two but most of the things I remember you doing weren't particularly lady like." Naomi laughs.

"I agree, I mean you're a great women but you're definitely not a posh lady." Katie states. "Though I think our mother would like to think other wise."

"Whatever" I retort not letting there talk worry me.

About ten minutes later we are all relaxed back into the sofas sufficiently satisfied. Katie and I have both been through another glass of wine.

"So about this game of poker, what are we playing for? Won't be any fun if there's nothing to win or loose." I say flicking my eyes from Katie to Naomi.

"Good point, how about the last of the cheese cake. There still about a quarter of it left winner can do with it what they like." Naomi suggests.

"I'm in" Katie says "but first I'm going to get us another bottle of wine."

"Yeah I like your thinking Katie. Yours too Naomi I can't wait to eat the rest of that amazing cake."

"A little bit cocky their Fitch, I wouldn't be counting your chicken till they've hatched." Naomi smiles back winking at me. I can't help but smile back she really is quite a charming woman.

Some time later and the poker match is in full swing. We are laughing, talking and pulling some funny faces trying to put each other off and win the bets. I'm really enjoying myself.

"Full house" Naomi boasts laying out her cards as the betting ends. "Kings and jacks looks like that's another pot to me. Your chips are looking a bit meagre there." She continues gesturing to mine and Katie's piles.

She's right she may be boasting but she probably has the right to be. She has won almost every single hand so far.

"It's not fair" I moan looking at her mountain of chips. "How do you manage to win all the time?"

"Yeah" Katie puts in both of us giving Naomi an evil look.

"Well I can pretty much read you like a book Emily even when you're not drunk so now it's just too easy. Katie, well you are really drunk too which makes it easier. You also tend to crinkle your nose when your have a good hand. When you have a bad hand you bite your bottom lip." she says smiling at the both of us.

"This isn't fair, I'm really drunk and you're not why are you not drunk Naomi. I'm drunk and Katie's drunk cause we drunk wine which made us drunk." I giggle to myself at this statement.

"She hasn't had any wine tonight." Katie says a little confused. It seems like she's just realised this. "Why haven't you had any wine Naomi?" she asks.

"Yeah Naomi." I put in "Was it your plan to get us drunk and win all the cheese cake. That's the evil scheme you talked of earlier isn't it?"

"Yeah I'll admit it" she says smirking "I didn't have any wine so I could beat you at poker and win a cheese cake I made for you." Naomi cracks up laughing at the end of her sentence. I can't help but laugh with her. Katie on the other hand just gives her a questioning look. She then looks at me and back at Katie raising her eyebrow. I don't think I was meant to catch on to the gesture. I feel, though my mine is somewhat cloudy, that it was a silent conversation between the two of them. Katie was asking for the real reason she wasn't drinking and Naomi replied with not while Emily is here. Though I could be wrong could be nothing I am after all quite drunk. I think Katie and I have managed to make it through the two bottles of wine we brought plus another Naomi gave us.

"Wait" I say my mouth taking as my brain realises. "I'm drunk and your drunk and it's getting late how are we going to get home Katie?"

"Chill Ems we'll just catch a cab no big deal we can come back and get the car tomorrow." She says.

Her simple answer makes sense. I find it funny that my intoxicated brain couldn't come up with that itself.

"Or if you'd rather you can crash in the spare room. It's all made up and the beds are more comfortable than Katie's couch Emily." Naomi offers.

It does sound nice. I'm having a great time hanging out with her and I don't want to leave just yet. Also the idea of not having to venture out into the cold night to get home is appealing. The third pro is that she's offering me a bed. I'm really grateful for my sister letting me stay but sleeping on her pull out couch isn't exactly luxury. I look at my sister to see what she thinks of the offer. She smiles at me and gives me a small nod telling me she's good with it if I am.

"Yeah that would be good if you don't mind Naomi" I say seeing a wide grin break out on her face. I like seeing her smile. It feels like right now I'm doing a whole lot of things that are hurting her. I don't mean to be but I can't help it. I'm glade to see I'm also doing some things that make her smile. I like her smile I think I could get used to it.

"Yeah thanks Nai." Katie adds. "I think I might be ready to hit the hay after a few more hands."

We played the game until, as could of been predicted, Naomi won all the chips. She had laughed at both me and Katie as we argued over the fairness of her being sober. Now I was tucked up in a warm single bed in her spare room. Well I guess it was actually our spare room but I wasn't ready to deal with that quite yet. It felt a little like I was actually young again. Katie was in the bed across from me snoring loudly in her drunken slumber. I rolled over again trying to get comfortable but too much was running through my head. The alcohol it seemed wasn't making me tired like it had Katie. Instead it seemed to be taking the few memories I did have and flashing them at me. Well actually it was taking the memory of me and Naomi kissing and playing it over and over in my mind. Screw this I thought I wasn't going to be getting any sleep any time soon. May as well get up.

I wander down the hall and see the light still on under the door in Naomi's room. I knock quietly not wanting to wake up the two sleeping occupants of the house.

"Come in" she says looking up as I open the door. "Hey" she says smiling as she sees who it is.

"Hey" I reply uncertainly "I'm not intruding am I"

"Course not I was just reading" she replies holding up her book for me to see. "Beside this is your room too you can come in when ever you like, don't even have to knock."

"Ok" I say looking round the room. There is a large TV on a cabinet on one wall parallel to the foot of the bed. A large dressing table and mirror along another wall and it seems a large walk in closet. There is also a door which I presumes leads to an en-suite similar to the one in the guest bedroom.

"You want to sit down?" Naomi asks gesturing to the bed next to her. I walk over sitting on the bed and moving so my back is against the head board. Naomi adjusts her position so she is angling her body slightly towards mine and facing me.

"I called work today." I say starting with an easy topic knowing I have so much more I want to talk to her about. "They said to take it easy that they would keep my job open for me for six months."

"That's great. You're really lucky the people at your work really love you. Then again most people really love you."

"I was hoping you'd let me look after Kelly while I'm not working and you are. I might go back before the six moths are up but I'd like to give myself a bit of time. I'd like to work on trying to remember. I feel like spending time with Kelly would be a good use of my time." I say a little unsure of myself. Not knowing if Naomi will allow Kelly to spend time with me when Katie's not around. I know she has taken a week off to help me out but she needs to return to her job.

"Course you can Emily. She's your daughter you don't have to ask you can spend time with her whenever you like. I mean I want to try and keep her as settled as possible so I'd like to have her staying at home. I mean she knows something's going on so I don't want anything else big to change. Your welcome here to spend time whenever. This is your house too Emily and she's your daughter so you really don't have to ask permission. She can also come to Katie's if you like. We'll make sure you get to spend as much time with her as you want." she says.

"Your not scared of leaving her alone with me when I can't remember?" I ask looking at Naomi so I could see if her face betrayed any doubt.

"Not at all" she assures me confidence in her words shown in her tone and face. "You don't need memory to look after her. You're her mother you don't need memories to know how to look after her. It's in your instincts. Right now the biggest thing she needs from you is love and you're already doing that."

"Thanks" I say feeling heaps better. Naomi had faith in me and my abilities to care for our daughter and that made me feel good. With that serious conversation over with it seemed that my mind reminded me I was drunk again. It threw me a whole lot of other questions it wanted to ask Naomi.

"Can I ask you something" I say. I know it's a stupid question. In asking it I'm doing the thing I'm asking to do, but hey I'm drunk and I want to put off asking the question for a little longer.

"Anything" she replies.

"Do we, you know, ummm" I say not quite sure how to finish the question a little embarrassed by it.

"Do we what?"

"Do we have umm you know sex?" I stutter out a little nervously.

Naomi laughs "Yeah I know what you mean, just wanted to hear you say it. You should see the colour of your cheeks right now. Your drunk and it's making you bold enough to talk to me I like it."

"That's mean" I say waking her on the arm.

"Sorry" she says still laughing a little "Course we have sex, we've been together for like twelve years and we're married."

"What do we like do? I mean do we use things or?" I trail off bold but not bold enough to finish.

"It's your memory that you lost Ems. I'm pretty sure your imagination is working just fine. If you can imagine it then we've probably done it. You tend to get quite creative in the bedroom." She winks at me.

Wow the images running through my mind right now. I wonder if we actually have done all these things. It seems like me and Naomi have quite a honest relationship. She doesn't seem phased at all by this conversation so I'm guessing we probably have tried out some of the more taboo things going through my mind.

"Naomi what if I'm not sure about us? I know I feel something for you and it feels special but I have nothing to compare it to. It's like I've just tried your amazing pasta but I don't know if there is a better Mac'n'cheese out there. You might be the Mac'n'cheese but I feel like I won't know unless I taste some others metaphorically speaking. I guess what I'm asking is can I go out and see?"

"You're a big girl Emily you can d what you like. There's no one to stop you going out and trying all the pasta in the world." she says. I can see she's a little hurt by what I'm saying. Hell I can't blame her. I mean if the tables were turned I'm sure I wouldn't be acting as calm and collected as her.

"What if I want you to still be here?"

"I want to say I'll always be here but the fact of the matter is I can't wait forever. If you're not going to be with me then I need to move on with my life not that it would be much of one. If you want to go out and see other people and have me wait for you then I have a few conditions. I'll give you a free pass for two months. I need you to know this isn't going to be easy for me so I don't want to hear about what you've been getting up to with other people. After those two months are up you need to tell me if you choosing to let us try or you think you've found something better. My other condition is that whenever you are going out on the pull or on a date you spend the equivalent amount of time with me. You give me a chance to date and woo you." She says.

"Why would you let me do that? Why would you let your wife have free range to sleep with whoever she wants?" I ask confused and amazed at how willing Naomi seems to let me discover myself.

"Well either I'm really stupid" she laughs "Or I trust in us. I know your not going to find anyone better out there we're it. If this helps you believe it then who am I to stop you. Also my Emily the one I'm sure you'll find she wouldn't do anything to hurt me by doing something with someone else. I guess I'm hoping you'll find her before I have to think about someone else touching you."

"You truly are amazing" I say taking her hand in mine. "Do you think it would be ok if I kissed you?" I ask the overwhelming urge to do so striking me as I look at her and think of all she is willing to do for me.

"You don't have to ask Ems. In fact I think it's only fair I get to show you my best stuff before you go off out there. I mean you need a standard to compare it to." She says smiling.

We lean into each other and then we're kissing. It's warm, gentle and it makes me want to kiss her forever. I let myself enjoy the sensations that come with the kiss. We slowly depends it and I let her slide her tongue into my mouth. When I was much younger and thought about kissing it always grossed me out. Having another persons tongue in your mouth doesn't sound appealing. Gosh how wrong I was. The sensation is perfect and I want it to last forever while at the same time wanting more of her. Her hands move up to cup my face stroking my cheeks before she slowly moves away for air.

"I think I need a little more just to make sure I remember the standard exactly" I say. She smiles at me and moves so she's lying on her side. I lay down and face her leaning in and letting our lips meet again. It just as amazing as before and we kiss for a while. Eventually she pulls back.

"As much as I love doing that Emily I think we need to stop before it goes any further."

"You don't want to go any further?" I ask thinking maybe I'm no good at kissing anymore and she doesn't want me.

"Course I do. It's just I don't think while your drunk is a good time to have your second first time. Plus I need you to be comfortable and I'd rather not until your sure about us." She says stroking my hair away from my forehead and kissing me there.

"So it's not me then?" I ask self consciously.

"No Emily course not, you're a beautiful woman and it's taking a lot of self restraint for me to resist you right now."

"Ok" I say "But can I sleep here with you" I ask wanting to stay close to her right now. She makes me feel warm and safe and I like the secure feeling. I want to see what it's like sleeping wrapped up in her warm arms.

"Course you can" she replies "Like I said this is your room. In fact you were the one that picked this bed. You have as much right to be here as I do."

"Aren't you on my side?" I question feeling a little wrong on the side I'm on.

"Yeah I slept here last night cause it smells like you" she says smiling "How did you know."

"Well I always slept on the right side of the room I shared with Katie it feels weird being on the left."

"Well we better fix that" she says moving from her position on the bed and walking round till she's behind me. She gets back onto the bed and we both shuffle under the covers. She turns off the beside lamp.

"Can we cuddle" I ask somewhat shyly still a little unsure of where we stand.

"Yeah I think we can, for tonight at least." She replies putting her arms around me. Her front pushed firmly into my back. It feels nice really nice.

"Night Em's" she whispers pressing a light kiss to my shoulder.

"Night Naomi" I reply, closing my eyes and relaxing into the feeling of her arms. It feels nice. I remember being a kid and trying to imagine what it must feel like falling asleep in someone's arms. It's better than you could imagine. Though I don't know what will come or if Naomi will turn out to be my Mac'n'cheese right now everything seems nice. It's good just being in this moment and I file this memory away into my head. Adding it to the few I have hoping there will be many more happy memories like it in my future.

**Well here goes another one. Man Naomi is acting crazy what is she thinking telling her wife she can sleep with other people. Guess we'll have to get inside her head again next and see if she can give us some more insight. Hope you liked it flick us a review if you feel like it. Thanks for all the ones I have been getting they really are a great motivator. Until next time. :P**


	6. Chapter 6

I wake up with my arms wrapped around a warm body. I burry my face in the familiar smelling scent and inhale. Its amazing I love being in that state in between asleep and awake and know my wife's here safe in my arms. It's the most relaxing and blissful experience there is. I could lay here for hours. Then my brain catches up with me this, can't be real. My wife doesn't remember me right now she's not snuggled up in bed with me. I must be dreaming it's a nice one though. While I'm dreaming about something that may not happen anytime in the near future I may as well make the most of it. I smile to my dreaming self. I slowly move the arms that are wrapped securely around Emily's waist and bring them up further. I skim my open palm over her breast. I can feel its warmth even through her shirt and decide I want to get closer. I like the way the dream is letting me take control of it. I slip my hand up under her shirt and feel her warm smooth skin pushing directly against my palm. Sliding up further I feel it come in contact with her nipple. I run my thumb back and forth over it.

"You always grope me when you think I'm sleeping?" comes Emily's sleepy voice. It wakes me from my dream like state.

"Shit sorry" I apologise quickly removing my hand from her breast. "I really thought I was dreaming. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."

"Nice to know I'm the women of your dreams. It's ok Naomi it actually felt quite nice. I had the best sleep this bed is amazingly comfortable." She says.

"Sure anything would be after Katie's couch. Then again this bed is amazing. You choose it actually. I wanted to buy a more expensive one but you talked me out of it. You said more money didn't mean more comfort. I swear you made me lay on almost every bed in the shop with you. You reckoned this one was perfect just the right amount of bounce and support. You also said you had a good feeling about it. I must agree you were right." I explained to her the story of our purchase.

"Sounds like a fun day" she replies rolling over so she's facing me.

"Believe me it was" I say. Emily just looks at me taking in my morning look. She then starts to smile before her face crack and she lets out a laugh that turns into uncontrollable giggling.

"Whats you laughing at Mumma?" comes a small voice from the doorway. We both looked over to see Kelly standing there holding Mr Bear.

"I'm laughing at your Mummy baby girl." Emily answers her smiling.

"Room for me?" she asks accepting Emily's answers and walking towards the bed.

"Always room for you my little princess" I reply as Kelly climbs up onto the bed squeezing herself in between Emily and I.

"You'd stay here last night Mumma?" Kelly asked looking at Emily. She wriggled to get herself comfortable with her back to me she snuggled tight into my front looking up at Emily.

"Yeah me and Aunty Katie both stayed" she replied looking at me and Kelly curled up together.

We lay cuddle up in bed for about half an hour. It was nice Kelly was chatting away to us both. Emily seemed relaxed and carefree. A knock at the door interrupted us from our talking.

"Come in" I called out watching as the door swung open to reveal a slightly tired looking Katie Fitch. She raised her eyebrow at the situation she saw before her.

"Breakfast?" she asked walking into the room and sitting on the edge of the bed. "I was thinking I could make some pancakes."

"I want to help" Kelly replied excitedly pushing herself up from her position quickly and moving towards Katie.

"Good I need a head chef" Katie smiled at her picking her up and carrying her out of the room.

"I'm going to have a shower I'll see you down there" I say getting up from my position too. I walk over to our large walk in wardrobe opening the doors and looking for something to wear. Emily comes up behind me taking in our large collection of clothes. She walks to one in of the wardrobe and pulls out a very small French maid's uniform. She holds it out to me her eyebrow raised in question and an amused look on her face.

"Don't you be looking at me like that I think you'll find that is in your size." I answer her silent question.

"I bet I look damn good in it too" she replies with a wink before moving towards the middle where our practical everyday clothes are located.

"Well I'd never complain. I'm sure you can figure out which clothes are yours if you want some more to take to Katie's" I voice gesturing to the various garments.

"Yeah I think I can figure it out. Have a good shower and I'll see you downstairs." She replies. I take the outfit I've found and move into the bathroom off our room.

Twenty minutes later I make it downstairs where all three girls are sitting at the table empty plates in front of them. They all look up at me.

"Saved you some Nai they're in the microwave." Katie says pointing in the direction of the kitchen.

"Thanks" I smile warmly at her walking towards the kitchen retrieving the plate before returning to sit with the others.

"Mind if I grab a shower?" Emily asks looking at me as I take a large mouthful. I resist the urge to answer her question despite the food in my mouth. I chew and shallow before opening my mouth to answer her. I look toward Kelly to see if she's noticed Emily's odd question but she apparently had not. She was actually climbing down from her chair and heading to her bedroom to play.

"I thought we cleared this up Emily. This is your house you can do whatever you like. The towels are in the cupboard at the top of the stairs. Take your pick of bathrooms. There is one off our room, one off the guest room and one in the hallway." I say looking up at Emily. She nods looking a little overwhelmed at all the choices.

"Thanks" she says carrying her and Kelly's plate into the kitchen before heading up the stairs.

As soon as she's out of ear shot Katie turns on me.

"I just had a very interesting conversation with my sister. What on earth are you thinking Naomi?" Katie asks disbelief in her tone. "Ems said you told her you were ok with her seeing other people, asked me if I'd go out clubbing with her."

"I didn't say I was ok with it. Of course I'm not flipping ok with it. I said I'd give her a chance to find out what else is out there." I tell Katie.

"Why would you do that though? Emily's a 28 year old woman for goodness sake. She's a wife and a mother she can't be off gallivanting around like a teenage tramp." Katie states firmly and I can see she's upset by the prospect.

"You and I know that Katie but Emily doesn't. We both know what she's like she won't believe something till she see's it for herself. Remember the time she decided to sit through that awful three hour movie just to see how bad it was for herself. Right now Katie she feels like a teenager again. I hope that letting her out to explore will help her come to her senses more quickly. I mean I know my wife and I have a pretty strong feeling she's not going to sleep with anyone else. She may kiss and grope a few people, but it just isn't Ems thing to be a dirty trollop. In high school when everything was really bad she never did sleep with anyone. I'm hoping maybe if she kisses a few randoms she'll realise how special we are." I explain to Katie. Boy do I hope my reasoning's right.

"What if she does Naomi?" Katie asks the question I'm trying not to consider. "What if she sleeps with someone else what happens then.

"I guess then she has to decide who she wants. I told her she could have two months I just really hope she doesn't need them. I'm trying to help speed up the process Katie. Everyone is going to be telling her I'm trying to let her find out for herself. I just hope she does it soon I could really use my wife right now." I say rationalising my decision further.

"What's going on?" Katie queries looking concerned, reading into my last statement.

"It's nothing I can't handle." I reply brushing her off.

"Naomi" Katie says in her don't mess with me voice. "I know I'm Emily's sister but I joined your team a long time ago yeah. You're the only one I want to see my sister with. You and I are good friends so if there is something going on you need to talk about please tell me. This whole situation is a lot harder on you than it is on me. My sister still remembers me I'm not trying to hold my family together and keep life normal for my child."

"Thanks Katie" I say sincerely.

"You going to tell me or what" Katie asks "I know something's going on you can't just not tell me."

I look down at my plate of cold pancakes contemplating if I should or not. I spin my wedding band round my finger contemplating.

"I really should tell Emily first." I say looking up at Katie. "Right now I can't though so I guess it might be ok to tell you."

"Well spit it out" Katie says eager to hear.

"Well a couple of months ago Ems and I decided to try another IVF treatment. I did a test two days ago. I was meant to tell her when you guys got home after shopping the other day but we all know how that turned out. The test said I was pregnant that day so I went to the doctors yesterday to confirm."

"You're Pregnant?" Katie says astonished. "Wow that wasn't even in my realm of possible answers. That's amazing Naomi." Katie says getting up and pulling me into a hug.

"Thanks" I mutter "It is great I just wish I had my wife to share it with. I remember when Emily got pregnant with Kelly we were both so happy. We went to all the doctor appointment together. I just want that you know. I mean what if Emily won't even acknowledge this as her child." I say. I know that's just a silly insecurity. I mean Kelly was as much my daughter as she was Emily's. Then again we knowingly created her together. The same goes for this child but Emily doesn't remember it. She doesn't remember the hours we spent searching through the sperm registry. The large chunk of money we took from our savings to pay for the treatment. The thoughts bring tears to my eyes.

"I can't do it without her." I tell Katie my voice breaking slightly. "She once told me I could do anything. The truth is though that she's the one that makes that possible. I can do anything with her support."

Katie pulls me into a hug as my tears start to fall.

"Hey" she says rubbing my back. "That's not going to happen. You and I we know Ems better than anyone and we know she loves you. She just needs to figure that out again. This baby will be loved by her no matter what happens. It will also have an Aunty who loves it and its big sister more than anything else." She says reassuringly.

"Plus I'm going to sort that sister of mine out ok. I'm going to tell her I'm not going clubbing with her and if she wants to pick up dirty slags in bars she can do it alone."

I can't help but laugh at Katie's words. Not 6 or 7 years ago she would have been one of the dirty slags.

"Katie as much as I love your sentiment I need someone to go with her. She's like a teenager again she needs to relearn all the lesions she's forgotten. I need someone to watch out for her make sure no one takes advantage, you know." I explain pulling back.

"I guess" Katie say's smiling "But I'm not going to be happy about it"

We leave it at that. I exit to the kitchen to heat up my pancakes and return to the table to eat them.

"So you're not going to tell her then?" Katie asks as I put the last bite in my mouth. I can tell she's been thinking about it the whole time I've been eating.

"Not tills she's ready to hear it" I say.

"It might help make her decision move things along quicker" she replies looking at me seriously.

"I don't think she's ready to know yet Katie. I'll answer anything she wants but she needs to do things in her own time yeah." I say.

"What aren't I ready to know?" Emily asks walking into the room fresh from the shower. I can smell her body wash and perfume so she must have found things ok.

"Naomi was just telling me about how she was up for a promotion at work. She didn't think it was a good thing to worry you with. She said it would mean working an extra four or five hours a week." Katie cut in quickly for me. That girl was good at coming up with believable stories quick.

"Yeah I confirm. I didn't want to worry you with it right now though because it would mean slightly longer hours and less time I could spend with Kelly. I'm still thinking."

"Ok" Emily says. "I think that's great good luck I'm sure your amazing at your job. You don't need to worry about me you know I'm ok. What is it you do anyway?" she asks looking honestly interested.

I can't help but laugh on the inside at her comment of me not worrying about her. Apparently she doesn't realise its part of my job as her wife. I worry constantly about my baby girl and her.

"What do you think I do?" I ask trying to find a way to lighten the conversation.

"Hmm" she says bringing her hand up to her mouth in a thinking gesture. "I know you're smart so I'm thinking something that uses lots of brain. Maybe a lawyer or an accountant, no they're too boring for you. Ok I'm thinking a scientist of some sort or a doctor." She says nodding her head as if she likes what she's said.

"Not bad Ems" Katie comments from her seat.

"Yeah I'm an Environmental Scientist." I fill her in. "I like to think I trying to solve the world's problems with my brain. Talking of which I must be going soon. Are you guys still ok to take care of Kelly for the day?" I ask.

Emily nods smiling. I can tell she has already fallen in love with our girl all over again. In fact I'm pretty sure it happened the moment Kelly hugged her in the hospital. It's nice to know it's at least one thing I can count on.

"I figure you guys can just hang out here if you want. Means Kelly's got all her toys and stuff handy."

"Sounds good" Katie and Emily reply at the same time.

"Kelly Fitch-Campbell" I yell up the stairs. A few seconds later my little bundle of joy comes bounding down.

"Mummy's got to go to work now sweetie. Do I get my kiss?" I ask bending down. She gives me a sloppy kiss on the cheek and wraps her arms around me in a hug.

"Love you" she says as she pulls away.

Love you too" Baby I say.

I then walk over to Emily. She initiates our goodbye pulling me in for a hug.

"There is some leftover cheese cake in the fridge with your name on it." I whisper in her ear as we go to pull away.

"But you won the game" she says looking at me.

"Yeah and the rules were you can do with it what you like. I would like to give it to you. You can even share with Katie if you want." I say smiling at her.

"Slim chance." She replies grinning. She then leans in and pushes her lips to mine. It lasts slightly longer than it needed if it was just for appearances.

"See ya Naomi" she says as she pulls away.

"Bye" I say smiling at her "See ya Katie."

I wave to all three of them as I exit the house. They smile and wave back. I can tell they are going to get up to all sorts of mischief while I'm away. Then again I wouldn't want it any other way.

When I get to work I realise how little work I actually need to complete today. I realise I'm probably going to be finish quite early in the afternoon. I decide this is a sign that I should do something with my family.

_Hey Emily hpe 2 fin early mayb we could do sumthg wit Kelly this arvo. I promised to take her 2 the Zoo u up 4 it?_

I send off to Emily hoping I get a confirmation in return. My phone alerts me to a new messages a few minutes later.

_Sounds good c u later look forward to it :)_

I get in reply. I smile and get on with my work, with Emily out of work for a while and a new baby on the way I'm going to have to make sure I'm watching money carefully. Then again we do pretty well for ourselves and we had more than enough in savings. All I need to worry about right now was the afternoon I would be spending with my two favourite girls.

**Well there we go another chapter hope you like it. Let me know if you did or if you didn't for some reason. Good job to those who picked up on my clues that Naomi was pregnant. Thanks for all the reviews and alerts. :) Until we meet again. **


	7. Chapter 7

"Mummy I want to visit the monkeys first" Kelly says as we entered the zoo. It was a lovely afternoon the sun was shinning bright but a light breeze ensured it wasn't too hot. Naomi had arrived home a little after twelve. We'd had lunch with Katie and then made our way to the zoo. Naomi had paid for all of us. Here we were standing just past the entrance thinking about our path.

"Course baby girl" Naomi replies smiling down at Kelly. She bends down to her level and open the map for both of them to look at. "You're going to have to help me read the map yeah. What can you see around us to figure out where we are?"

I watched as Kelly looked around. She let her eyes wander as she searched for something she knew. I too let my eyes wander. My trained in on Naomi I saw the warm smile on her face as she watched her daughter. She really seemed to be good at this parenting thing. I could see she was always trying to involve Kelly in things. She let Kelly figure things out being patient and allowing her to answer even when it took a while. Naomi was letting her learn so many things by sharing information or letting her discover it for herself. We were going to have a very smart daughter I could already see her intelligence even at the young age of 2 and a half. I just hope I had in some way contributed to that.

"There Mummy I can see the lions" Kelly said pointing to a large enclosure with two large lions visible from our location.

"Ok now can you help me find the lions on the map?" Naomi asked holding it up for Kelly to see.

"Yeah here they are Mummy" she says pointing to the picture of the lions on the map.

"You're my clever girl aren't you" Naomi replies while ruffling Kelly's hair. Kelly just giggles and smiles happily. "Now where are the monkeys?"

Again Kelly looks carefully at the map taking a minute as she takes in all the details.

"There" Kelly announces pointing to the picture of the monkeys.

"So what path do we need to follow?" Naomi asks.

Kelly takes a little longer to answer this, taking a few minutes. She looks from the map to the two paths in front of us several times. Naomi just waits while Kelly considers this. She looks up at me catching my eye and grinning. I can't help but smile back she really does look beautiful when she smiles. She gives me a cheeky wink before diverting her attention back to our daughter. It still seemed rather odd to think that. Our daughter, Naomi and my daughter, I had a daughter with Naomi. There was no doubting the fact that I loved Kelly in only the few days I could remember spending with her. It still seemed some what crazy though.

"That One" Kelly announced after much consideration pointing to the left path. "We walk past the birds and the elephants then we see the monkeys." She says fairly sure of herself.

Naomi smiles at Kelly folding the map and putting it in her pocket.

"You're just my little genius aren't you" She says taking Kelly's hand. "Lead the way then baby girl."

Kelly looks behind her to where I'm still standing fondly admiring the interaction. She holds her free hand up and I take it willingly. Kelly leading both me and Naomi towards the monkeys she is so keen to see. She chatters on as we pass the different animals on our way. It was very cute. Naomi was adding information for her and responding to her.

"Look Mumma it's the elephants they're your favourite." Kelly informs me as we stop for a second at their enclosure.

"Yeah they are" I reply smiling at her. They always had been my favourite. Kelly lets go of Naomi's hand and lifts her arms up to me. I lean down and easily pick her up to get a better view. Naomi moves closer to us. It feels like one of those family moments you see on television or in photographs. It's a weird feeling considering I'm still trying to come to terms with the fact I have a family. I put Kelly down again and we continue on to our destination. When we reach the monkey's Kelly lets go of our hands and runs to get a closer look. She really is adorable. She stands riveted looking into their cage for a good ten minutes before running back to where Naomi and I have been watching quietly. We spend the next two hours wandering round looking at all the different animals Kelly in various degrees of excitement. She really is a little sponge spouting facts about each one. Naomi informed me that she had a book at home that we had been reading to her. Naomi and I had taken turns carrying Kelly as she got tired.

"Can we get ice cream Mumma?" Kelly asks looking up at me and pointing to the snack stand. I look to Naomi unsure of how to answer. I guess I have as much of a right to make the decisions as she does. On the other hand I don't feel I have any background information that might aid me in the decision making process. The fact that Kelly asked me must mean that sometimes I am the one who decides; today I think I'll leave it to Naomi.

"I think that's a perfect idea Kelly. How about since we've finished looking at most of the animals we hit the ice cream shop on the way home?" Naomi suggested looking at both of us for our reaction.

Kelly jumps up and down excitedly. I join in with her a little excited as well. I really do love ice cream, I mean who doesn't.

"I'll take that as a yes" Naomi says amused expression on her face. "Come on girls to the car."

I stare up at the huge board with all the different ice cream flavours wondering how on earth I'll ever manage to choose between my five favourite flavours and narrow it down to just two.

"I can't choose" I moan to Naomi who is looking at me as if she wants my order.

"Let me guess" she grins at me "you can't choose between chocolate mint, berry chocolate, caramel cream, hazel nut and white chocolate chip."

"How did you know?" I asked a little freaked out. I mean maybe she could read my mind. No that was a ridiculous thought. Although the smile that split across her face as I thought it pointed to that possibility.

"No Emily I can't read your mind. It's just you use to have the same problem all the time." Naomi explained.

"Use to?" I ask "Why don't I have it anymore?"

"Well Emily you my dear are almost as clever as our daughter. When we started dating you realised that not only could you eat your ice cream you could talk me into sharing some of mine too. That meant that now instead of only getting two different flavours now you could have four. Then all you had to do was bat your eyes at me and get me to order what you liked. All that was missing from your list then was caramel cream. When Kelly got old enough to eat ice cream you had your perfect family. A wife who would order a two scoop and leave you some left and Kelly never manages to eat her whole kiddy cone. That means Emily you get to have all your favourite flavours with all your favourite people your words of course." Naomi explained. I couldn't help but smile boy was I good. It did sound like the perfect arrangement.

"Wow, I'm a really good manipulator" I say after a minute of thinking. "It really is brilliant."

"Yeah and if we didn't love you so much than we wouldn't let you but what can we do"

"Same as usual?" the Lady behind the counter asks.

"Yes Please" Naomi replies politely.

"We really come here that much?" I ask quietly leaning into Naomi's ear.

"Got to keep my girls happy, ice cream seems to do the trick" she smiles.

When our ice creams are rolled we sit at a table together eating happily, me eating all of mine plus my fair share of everyone else's. Once again the thought strikes me that this is one of these perfect family moments. It feels good it really does. Still a little weird as I don't feel like I know them properly. I still can't help but smiling and laughing with them. It's nice and I feel happy today was a really good day.

It had been a few days since our zoo day. I had spent a lot of time with Naomi and Kelly since then hanging out and getting to know them. It was nice and I was really enjoying it. The problem was as Naomi and I had agreed, I had also really been enjoying clubbing with Katie. I had spent time talking to many beautiful women and even a few handsome men. I was in a club right now feeling somewhat tipsy. I was talking to a stunning woman though I had to admit she didn't have the beauty Naomi did. We'd been chatting for about twenty minutes. She had brought me several drinks which explained the tipsy state I found myself in.

"You want to dance?" she asks smiling and gesturing to the still somewhat quite dance floor.

I consider this for a minute. Sure I had spent time chatting and flirting with various people but dancing was getting quite close. I mean I was enjoying the opportunity to explore how I felt but I didn't think I was ready to do more than flirt. Just as I was about to answer my phone stared ringing.

" I've got sunshine on a cloudy day. When it's cold outside I've got the month of May. I guess you'd say. What can make me feel this way? My girl, my girl, my girl, talkin' 'bout my girl, my girl." Came from it, I lifted it up to look at the caller ID. I saw a cheesy picture of Naomi blowing me a kiss on the screen. I couldn't help but smile as I answered it.

"Hello" I say hearing a slight slur to my voice.

"Hey Emily" I hear in reply.

"Is everything ok" I ask wondering why she would be calling when I'd seen her earlier that day. It was also nearing eleven thirty which seemed late to be calling for just a chat.

"Emily you coming to dance?" asked the women I'd been talking to. I waved her off worried about the reason for Naomi's call.

"Nah everything fine Emily you sound busy don't worry I'll call you tomorrow." Naomi said her tone of voice had changed. When I answered she sounded almost scared or desperate now she appeared to be trying to cover that up.

"Naomi there must be a reason you rang what going on?" I asked feeling quite worried about what was going on.

"It's fine Emily, I see you tomorrow have a good night." She says once again sounding odd.

"Mumma" I hear in the background.

"Naomi is that Kelly? What's going on, it's late why isn't she in bed?" I ask feeling my heart rate increase as I think about all the bad things that could be wrong.

Naomi lets out a sigh. "She's sick I took her to the doctor this evening she came down with something really quick. He said it's just a virus gave us some pain killers. She's taken her maximum dose but she's still uncomfortable. She won't sleep, keeps asking for her Mumma. I was hoping if you weren't busy you'd come over. Like I told you, you can always get her down. It's fine though Emily I can hear your busy. I'll sort it, see you tomorrow."

"Naomi" I say urgently before she can hang up. "Nothing is more important than my daughter. I'll get a cab be there soon ok."

"Its fine Emily, I've got everything under control." She says trying to let me off the hook.

"That's great Naomi but if my daughter is sick and asking for me then that's where I should be. I'll be there soon tell her I love ok and I'm on my way." I firmly tell Naomi. It's amazing I reacted without thinking. Then again when I thought about it everything I said was completely true. If my daughter needed me then that was most important.

"Thanks Emily" she says "I'll see you soon."

I leave the club quickly only spending time to bid Katie a quick farewell before I'm in a taxi. 

I knock loudly on the door after running quickly up to it. Naomi opens the door almost instantly. She looks scared and tired. Holding Kelly her head tucked tightly into her neck. I took her from Naomi instantly rubbing her back and kissing her forehead. She felt hot I was more worried than I ever remember being in my life.

"She's hot" I say having sobered up considerably ever since I received the phone call. "Is she ok?"

"Yeah the Doctor says she'll be fine Em's" Naomi says putting her hand on my back to calm me and guide me towards her bedroom. "I know how you feel though even just a mosquito bite is scary when it's your kid."

Half an hour later we are all snuggled up in Naomi's bed. Kelly fell asleep almost as soon as I lay down with her. Naomi had laughed joking about my magic touch. She'd then, after my approval cuddled up with us. Naomi and I had been stoking Kelly's hair and talking quietly. I was really glade that I had ditched the club and run to my daughter. Right now this was what was important. I couldn't be completely sure but I think that was what a good mother should do. Although right now I didn't know how to be the perfect wife or even if I wanted to be, at least I could pride myself in doing right by my daughter.

**There we go another one for you. Emily's head still isn't quite right but at least she still has some of her priorities right. Thanks so much for the reviews. They really do help with the whole writing process. Let me know what you think of this one or anything you might like to see. To make it even more fun you could mention a random word and I'll see if I can incorporate every one into the next chapter. Yes I am a little crazy but all the best people are. Until next time. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Thanks for the reviews guys. For the one person who indulged my crazy and suggested a word thanks and it's in here for you. For everyone else see if you can pick out what it was. **

"I'm telling you Nai you need to make some kind of big gesture. You need to make a big move to win her back." Katie informs me.

I take a sip of my tea relaxing into the back of the sofa for a minute before answering her.

"She's not into big gestures though Katie, I mean it's not what she needs right now. I'm trying to show her I'm stable and strong. Of course I would pull all the biggest gestures in the world if I thought that would help but she just wants to figure things out for herself." I explain.

Despite the fact that my wife doesn't exactly know herself right now I still feel like I know her pretty well. She thinks she's changed that losing her memory has made her lose a part of herself. I know otherwise. She may not remember everything that she is but she definitely hasn't changed. She still laughs at the silliest things, still uses a knife and fork to eat her pizza and most of all Kelly is still the most important thing in her life.

"Yeah I've seen she doesn't like people telling her what to do. We were out in the weekend and we bumped into Panda and Thomas. They were asking question about why Emily was out and not at home with you and Kelly. It really didn't help the situation. In fact I think it is what pushed Emily from causal flirting to dirty dancing and snogging."

"Despite the fact I said I was fine with this Katie, doesn't actually mean I'm fine. I don't really want to hear about my wife casually hooking up with other people." I say a slight edge to my voice.

"I'm sorry I'm just trying to point out that you need to act. I'm just worried it'll get further and do you really think you could cope with that?" Katie asks looking at me with sympathetic eyes.

"I'm not sure ok. I mean I know I said it was fine but I don't want to think about or have to deal with it until or if I have to. I'm already trying to get used to all these weird hormones from the baby as well as not having Ems for support." I explain knowing she means well but at the same time really not wanting to talk about the possibility.

"Yeah I know how about I tell you some well good stories they are sure to cheer you up" Katie says smiling widely.

"Yeah ok what have you got for me then Katie? I could do with a laugh yeah." I say attempting to give her a genuine smile.

"Ok so we were out at this club the other day and that Mandy chick from college comes up to Ems. She all excited to see her and is being super nice asking questions and what not. Emily of course had no clue who she was and told her straight off. Pretty much told her she was below her level and why would she waste her time with chick like her when there was a whole club of beautiful people. Should have seen the look on Mandy's face it was flipping priceless. I swear that girl thought she and Ems were soul mates or some shit. When she came up to us it was like she expected some amazing reconnection to happen. When I told Ems they had been friendly she was appalled said she had nothing on you. Think she been comparing everyone to you Nai. She's trying to find people as beautiful and intelligent as you her success so far has been lacking though." Katie says grinning at me.

"At least that's something" I agree grinning back. "That Mandy stuff is priceless" I continue letting myself laugh a little.

"Yeah you want to hear some more disaster stories?" Katie asks looking at me like an excited five year old.

"You seem to really want to tell me so I guess it won't do any harm." I reply hoping these stories will cheer me up a bit. I felt dishearten by Katie's admission of Emily's progression into snogging.

"Nah they'll give you a right laugh Nai. I mean Emily has been gaining the interest of some pretty beautiful women but that's about all some of them are. There was this one lady who was obsessed with ants. Seriously she was telling Emily all about them and how they lived in the perfect society where everyone did their part. Crazy bitch even showed Emily her ant farm which she carries round in her handbag."

I couldn't help but laugh at this. Letting the image of a polite yet dismayed Emily trying not to laugh at the women enter my mind.

"You think that's funny it gets worse. There was this one girl who seemed perfectly normal from the start of the conversation. She then asked if she could buy Emily a drink. Emily asked for a Midori Cosmopolitan. The girl totally freaked out, started shaking her head, saying no repeatedly and sweating really bad. Emily thought she must have had a really bad experience with Midori that left her unable to drink it again. She found out later from the bar tender that she actually has triskaidekaphobia. It's the fear of the number thirteen or something weird like that. The bar tender explained, once the girl buggered of quite humiliated, that she associates Midori with the number 13 because M is the thirteenth letter of the alphabet. The weirdest though was actually this mega fit guy. He was hands down the hottest guy I've ever seen. Emily was having a chat with him and he reveals that he has a piece of hair from every sexual partner he's ever had. Explained that when cloning became a reality he would clone each woman, they would then become a part of his cult of wives. Asked if he could have one of Emily's hairs right there in the bar saying and I quote 'our sexual connection is unavoidable and we both know where this is leading.' As you can guess Ems was out of there in a flash." Katie recounted for me.

The stories had my laughing but the last one also had me a little disturbed.

"She's meeting these losers and you're worried about her going further with one of them?" I ask thinking about Katie's genuine concern for me and the urges for me to woo her sister.

"Nai not all of them are as extreme as that. Despite the fact none of them stack up to you we both know Emily's looking for something. We also both know she's not going to find it out there but it doesn't mean she won't try in every way she knows how." She explains and I really do understand her point. It's the reason I let Emily explore in the first place. She has to prove to herself in everyway possible that there is definitely nothing better out there. Then hopefully she will accept what Katie and I have known for years. Well to be fair so has she. Right now she just has no proof for herself of that.

"Yeah ok, once again I don't really want to think about it. I want to have a nice night with my wife, daughter and favourite sister watching movies and eating crappy junk food." I reply assertively ending the somewhat depressing conversation. Katie and I were both sitting round having this chat in Katie's apartment. I had come to pick up Kelly after my day at work only to be informed by Katie that I had plans for the night. Emily and Kelly had decided that we would be having a movie night at Katie's house. I of course had no problem with the arrangement was in fact happy that Emily had arranged something that meant spending time with me. It had to be a positive sign. They were out picking movies when I arrived and half an hour later it seemed they were still there. My thoughts were interrupted and somewhat proven wrong as the door opened and my family made there way in.

Kelly, as she always did when reuniting herself with me and Emily even after just a few hours, ran up to me for a big hug. I picked her up and returned it sitting so she on my lap.

"Hey" Emily greets me shyly taking a seat next to me on the couch bag of DVDs in her hand.

"Hi" I reply warmly smiling at her "What movies did you get?"

"Um" she said almost nervously fiddling with the bag before pulling out a movie. "Is one of your favourite movies?" she queries pulling a copy of _Schindler's List from the bag. _

_"Yeah it is" I affirm my voice full of surprise "It reminds me that one person can make a huge difference. How did you know?"_

_"I just sort of clicked when I saw it on the shelf. An image of you telling me about it popped into my head. You were explaining that it showed human compassion and decency even when it was at risk of your own life. As well as that, the fact that it was one of your favourites and I should get it for you just kind of appeared." She explained unsure of herself. _

_"Wow that's great Emily. That is a memory. I explained that to you before I made you watch it for the first time." I smile at her and she returns it seemly pleased to know that her ideas were actually real. _

_"Why you so happy Mumma remember something?" Kelly asks from my knee. It reminds me of the fact that we were trying to keep her out of this and shouldn't be discussing these things in front of her. Despite the fact she only two she's quite perceptive and amazingly smart. _

_"Your Mumma's just been forgetful lately baby girl that's all, Mummy's just teasing her" I say tickling her under her knees hoping she'll buy my half truth. _

_"Ok" Kelly giggled trying to get away from my tickling hands. Emily joined in and we had our girl in hysterics trying to wiggle away from us. _

_"Aunty Katie help me" Kelly managed to get out between giggles. _

Katie just smiled from her seat taking in something that was a normal family activity for us. At least it was before the accident.

"Ok I'll stop" I say resting my hands on my lap letting Kelly recover. "How was my favourite girls day anyway?" I inquire looking at Kelly for a reply.

"Good, Mumma and me did some painting and we read some stories." She informed me. I looked to Emily for confirmation but she had a distant look on her face. She was starting in front of her eyes glassy. Just as I was about to ask if she was ok she seemed to snap out of it and look at me a smile gracing her beautiful face.

"You know baby girl there was a time when your Mummy used to say I was her favourite girl." I looked at her questioningly wondering if she had recalled another memory. Maybe that is what her distant look had been.

"The day you were born" she continued evidently informing me that she had in fact recalled another memory. "We were cuddled together on my hospital bed both fascinated by our new little person. All of a sudden you Mummy looks at me and says she's sorry and she never meant to lie. I'm a little confused and worried of course I wonder what on earth she on about. She then says 'I promised you'd always be my favourite girl and now she's here and I can't help but break that promise.' She was worried I'd be mad at her but all I could do was agree. From the day you were born baby girl you've been the most precious thing in both of our lives." She finishes.

"Cool" Kelly announces clearly not understanding the full weight of what her mother has just told her. "I'm going to go find Oscar" she continues jumping down off my lap and scouting of to look for the mini dachshund.

"I'm going to go order the pizza's for dinner" Katie says excusing her self from the lounge "Just the usual?" she yells over her shoulder not bothering to wait for a reply.

"You really remember that?" I ask once it's just me and Ems. The emotion is clear in my voice and I can feel tears welling in my eyes. The memory Emily seems to have recalled is one of my fondest. I mean how can the birth of Kelly not be one of my favourite days? Sitting together just staring at her and talking softly.

"Yeah" she replies the emotion evident in her own voice. "When you said favourite girl the memory appeared in my head it was sort of weird. You know when someone says something that reminds you of a song and then that song is stuck in your head. That's the best way I can describe it." she explains trying to help me understand.

"I don't mind how it happened I'm just glade it did. That was one of the most important days of our life" I sniffle through my emotions. I look up at Emily she's looking right back at me, her brown eyes looking more familiar than they have since the accident.

"It really was perfect wasn't it?" she asks though I know it's a rhetorical question as her eyes stay locked with mine and her voice portrays a certainty that she knows it was. Her eyes study my face as I do the same to her. She bites her lip and I see her thumbs twiddling out of the corner of my eye. She wants to say something but isn't sure if she should. I continue to let my eyes run over her beautiful face that I know so well.

"I really want to kiss you" She says shyly after a bit as if she's asking permission to do so.

"You're allowed to you know." I inform her giving her a reassuring smile. I want to add that I belong to her, that I've only ever been hers but I don't want to freak her out. Or embarrass myself with cheesy lines I only ever save for her or Kelly. I only have a minute to contemplate this before she's leaning into me. She wraps her arms around me bringing her head to rest on my chest for a moment. She then lifts her head and lets her lips slowly join with mine. I relax into the kiss letting her lead the way. It feels nice to be reconnecting with her again. Emily seems to gain some confidence and slowly adds her tongue into the mix. I wrap my arms around her neck embracing the moment not knowing when my next might be. Eventually Emily pulls back from the kiss her eyes full of amazement. She returns her head to my chest as if trying to hide her emotions.

"Why do you feel so safe Naomi? Why does this feel so right?" she asks quietly into my chest her warm breath tickling my neck.

"Because I am" I reply simply. "I love you and I'd do anything for you. You've always believed in true love Ems. You're my one and I'd feel safe to say I'm yours too." I explain knowing it's not going to sway her mind.

"Yeah I just need a little longer to figure things out" she says a bit of regret in her voice.

"Yeah I can cope with that as long as I'm a player in the race" I smile. She lifts her head off my chest looking at me a serious look in her eyes.

"You're definitely in the race Naomi, very much a key player too." She assures, leaning in and kissing me again. A few seconds later a small body wiggles into the small space between our bodies pushing us apart.

"Hello" I articulate looking down at my daughter who had the cheekiest grin on her face. I want to be annoyed that she ruined what could be the only intimacy I have with my wife for the next week. I can't of course, who could be mad at suck a cute face.

"No kiss now Mummy wanna watch a movie" she announces.

"Is that right and what movie are we going to watch" I inquire.

"We got Sherk or Finding Nemo didn't we Kelly. What do you think we should watch?" Emily helps looking at Kelly for an answer. I knew what the answer was going to be as soon as the question left Emily's lips. Kelly had been obsessed with the ocean and fish ever since we took her to the aquarium about a year ago. She wasn't really old enough to understand a lot of the information then. She was however absolutely mesmerized by the fish. Since she's got a little older and more articulate we have been reading books about the ocean and learning the names of many sea creatures.

"Finding Nemo" Kelly announces confirming my predictions.

"Really" I say with mock surprise. "I could have guessed that" I pronounce grabbing Kelly and pulling her onto my lap and a tight hug. She giggles and looks up at me smiling.

"We watching Finding Nemo again?" Katie asks walking back into the room three pizza boxes in hand.

"Yeah how'd you guess?" I question Katie "The pizza's were quick."

"Actually they took half an hour. Someone was just a little absorbed in something" Katie says looking between Emily and me a large smile on her face.

"Yeah you and Mumma was kissing" Kelly says causing Emily to blush a little. I don't want her to be embarrassed. If the accident had never happened she wouldn't have been. She would have said something about how kissable I was and tickled Kelly till she agreed with her.

"Alright where's my pizza?" I ask trying to distract from Emily's embarrassment.

Two hours later Kelly is asleep across both mine and Emily's lap, Emily was snuggled comfortable into my side. Katie was sprawled out on the lazy boy chair. The coffee table was scattered with empty pizza boxes and the remnants of popcorn.

"I probably need to get Kelly home now" I announce not wanting to move from the most comfortable position.

"Yeah" Emily confirms "We didn't get to watch _Schindler's List_, it's not really a kids movie though by the looks of it."

"Yeah maybe the two of us can watch it sometime" I suggest gaining a smile and a small nod from Emily.

"Well I'm off to bed, night all." Katie says getting up leaving Emily and I alone with our daughter.

"I'll walk you out" Emily says getting up and walking towards the door. I pick up our daughter holding her close to my chest and following her out.

Five minutes later Kelly is safely strapped into her car seat amazingly still asleep.

"Well I'll see you tomorrow" I say feeling increasingly awkward.

"Yeah" Emily smiles. "I had a really good time tonight" she continues. It feels like a first date, like I'm in a situation where I'm meant to decide if I should kiss her or not.

Emily decides for me leaning in and pressing her lips to mind for a second before pulling away.

"Bye" I say grinning as I jump into my car. Emily waves shyly and I drive away feeling like we may be moving forward.

Its a few days after our family movie night, I had been so happy that night things seemed as if they were starting to work in my favour. Emily had remembered a few things and was actively seeking my affection. Now I feel horrible. Katie text me about ten minutes ago saying I should call with a Kelly emergency. Her and Emily it seemed where out at a club. Emily apparently was highly intoxicated and Katie was hinting at the fact that she thought things might go further tonight.

When I got her text encouraging me to call Emily home for a problem with Kelly I considered it, but only for a minute. I didn't want to be the boy who cried wolf and perhaps stop Emily coming when Kelly really did need her. I told her she could experiment and that's exactly what she was doing. To be fair I said it because I was scared of what would happen if I didn't agree. Now it seems I'm just as scared off what will happen because I did.

In an effort to cheer myself up I'm watching our wedding video and eating ice cream straight from the tub. I smiling to myself knowing my favourite part is coming up when the door bell rings. I look down at my watch confused. It's past midnight and I'm weary about who might be here at this hour. The door bell rings again two times in quick succession and I get up to investigate before it wakes Kelly.

"Hello" I say cautiously through the door waiting for a response.

"Naomi" comes the drunken and obviously upset voice of my wife. I open the door immediately and a very drunk and sobbing Emily propels herself at me. I wrap my arms around her looking out onto the porch where someone else stands.

"Hi" I say looking at them hoping they might provide some answers.

"Hey" the woman says "Your Naomi then, thought that must have been her twin sister."

"Yeah I'm Naomi what happened to her?" I ask gesturing to the emotional women in my arms.

"I'm not exactly sure. We meet at a club went back to my house she seemed up for it you know. Then I went to take off her shirt and she totally freaked out. Started saying she had to see Naomi, I had to take her to Naomi." The woman explains.

"Well thanks for bringing her home" I say gratefully "You need money for a cab or anything?" I ask happy she'd bought Emily to me.

"No it's fine, I've not got far to go. Is she going to be ok?" the woman asks gesturing to Emily who's now whimpering softly against my chest.

"Yeah I'll look after her." I assure "thanks again" I say and she seems to be happy with this. She nods softly before walking away. I close and lock the door before carefully leading Emily up to our room. I sit her carefully on the bed then try to pull back to get a good look at her. She seems reluctant to let me go, pulling me back and cuddling her face into my chest.

"Ems" I say softly stroking her hair. "Emily are you ok?"

"I'm sorry I'm so sorry" she weeps pulling me closer even though we're already pressed tightly together. "I, I was going to have sex with that girl you know. Then I got back to her place and I had this image of you and me and our first time at the lake in my head. It was so perfect you know. Then I just I felt so bad because how could I want to be with anyone else. I doubted us Naomi how could I ever doubt us?" she sobbed sniffing loudly.

"Hey it's ok" I say trying to calm her down. "You know after our first time I ran from you. I doubted us and I was scared but we worked through that. We became a couple we got married. We can work though this too ok." I say reassuringly.

"But I was going to sleep with her" Emily wept.

"Yeah and I told you, you could. Everything a bit crazy for us right not ok. What counts is that you didn't you're here with me. You came home to me."

"Yeah?" Emily says looking up at me like a small child searching for approval.

"Yeah" I affirm kissing her forehead. "Now lets get you all tucked in you look like you could use some sleep"

Twenty minutes later Emily's tucked up safe and soundly in our bed. I've left for a minute to check on Kelly and phone Katie. It took a lot of convincing from me before Emily would let me leave even just to check on Kelly.

"Hey Katie" I say as I hear her answer her phone.

"Hey Naomi it's too late I'm so sorry I tried to stop her. Emily left about an hour ago with some skanky arse bitch." Katie says. I can't help but let out a small chuckle.

"Honestly Katie the skanky arse bitch actually seemed really pleasant when she dropped off my sobbing wife."

"Emily's there with you?" she inquires "Why what happened?"

"As far as I can tell she was going to get down and dirty but then a memory stopped her. It was of our first time at the lake. When she shoed up on the doorstep half an hour ago she was a blubbering mess apologising for doubting us." I explain.

"Wow is she ok?" Katie asks concern apparent.

"Yeah she'll be fine now. It might be a step forward actually, think she want to focus on us now. Though I won't get my hopes up as she's seriously sloshed and I wouldn't rule out her having taken something either. She's safe for now and we'll face the music tomorrow." I tell Katie.

"Yeah thanks for letting me know Nai. I was super worried that she was out doing God knows what."

"No Problem, I best get back she seemed reluctant to let me out her sight even for five minutes. Bye" I say hearing Katie reply before hanging up. I check in on Kelly who is still sound asleep and return to my room. The sight that greets me there is similar. Emily is zonked out on her back snoring loudly but still managing to look really cute. I change and crawl under the covers next to her. She moves in her sleep to hold me close. I drift off thinking that perhaps thinks have come to a head to night and they might start getting better. Then again this seems like one of those one step forward two steps back situation. I'd just have to take each day as it comes and hope more of them ended up with my beautiful wife in bed with me. This was after all exactly where she belonged.

**Hope you enjoyed let me know I love all the reviews.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey thanks for all the reviews and alerts. For those of you who tried to guess the word it was triskaidekaphobia and it was thanks to Miss Awesome. For those of you who liked Katie's retelling of Emily's clubbing disaster stories you have her to thank. Had I not been looking for a way to use that word they would not have come about. Anyway here's the next chapter s always hope you enjoy and let me know what you think. **

Emily was pulled slowly from her sleep by whispered voices. She let her body orientate itself and as it did took note of the throbbing in her head. She groaned and moved her hand to cover her eyes thinking that perhaps pressure would alleviate some of the pain. Her plan though sound to her mind did nothing but make her head pound a little harder from the action. Eyes still closed she tuned into the voices.

"Come on baby lets go and leave Mumma to sleep she's really tired" Naomi explained quietly.

"We watch the cartoon?" Kelly asked in what I could only assume she deemed a quite voice but in actual fact was probably very close to her normal tone.

"Course baby" Naomi replied and I her what my detective skills would make out as a kiss before shuffling occurred and one set of footsteps left the room. From this I assume, as my eyes are still firmly shut, is that Naomi carried Kelly out.

A short time later I hear someone return to the room and sense them standing next to the bed. I open my eyes to see a smiling Naomi holding a large bottle of water and two Nurofen. I smile at her gratefully as I take the tablets and wash them down with almost half the bottle of water.

"How you feeling?" she asked concern evident in her tone.

"Been better" I reply honestly. Despite my physical symptoms of overindulgence I do feel pretty good. My admission to Naomi last night had left me feeling good. It was like I had been trying to swim against the current, against what was right. Now it seemed I had come to realise that was futile and agreed to give in and see where it took me. I knew that though that was a big step the harder ones were yet to come. I had to get to know Naomi again and she needed to let me without falling back into how she remembered us. I was ready to try with Naomi and in fact I could see it being rather wonderful, but I needed to start from scratch. I would like to know about a few of the memories we have made together eventually. Right now though I needed us to move slowly together, I didn't want a situation where Naomi was the story teller of our life together. I instead wanted her to allow me to discover it again with her assistance. To be fair it seems she knew this about me. For the last month since my accident she had been dedicated to doing just that. She had tried to help create new memories for our family together. She had also only shared what I had asked and never forced information onto me.

"Well I'll leave you to get some more rest." She says softly. I can see she wants to say much more but again her instincts not to push me stop her.

"I'm not really tried anymore" I state as she makes a more for the door, turning round at my voice. "I herd something about cartoons that sounds pretty good." I smile as she moves back and kneels beside the bed.

"Its only seven Emily you sure you don't want a couple more hours? You had a big night I'm surprised your not vomiting this morning. It's been a long time since either of us has been in that kind of state."

"Yeah I'm sorry" I say Naomi looking at me from her place next to the bed.

"What for?" she asks as if it's a silly thing to say.

"For turning up in the middle of the night, for almost sleeping with that random girl and for trying to fight the fact that you and I are together." I get out my voice getting emotional as I feel bad about all the things I've done.

"Hey, look at me" Naomi says running her finger through my hair soothingly. "Don't you apologise ok. This is your home you should be able to turn up here and receive love and support from your family. The fact of the matter is you didn't sleep with that girl, which I'll admit I'm glade for. Then again I know you and I was pretty convinced you'd never let it go all the way. So thank you for proving me right, showing me you are still the same person. It's ok that you're unsure about us. I mean I don't know how'd I'd feel if I woke up in a reality where all I could remember was being a teenager. One where I had a family and wife, it's probably a good thing it's not me Ems. I have a feeling I'd be very resistant to the idea. I mean I was in College despite the fact I was there feeling it all. So no you've got nothing to be sorry about." She states with conviction. All throughout she had continued with the gentle stroking of my hair, giving me a beautiful relaxed feeling.

"Ok thanks" I reply simply. "How are you being so great Naomi? Why are you so patient and just seem to take everything with an amazing maturity?" I ask again in awe of the way she is dealing with this whole situation.

"Because I'm an adult Ems, I've learnt a lot to get me where I am honestly most of that I learnt from you. Of course I learnt how to do the right thing by screwing up and doing the wrong thing so many times. I love my life and right now I'm willing to help you relearn what you taught me no matter how hard that might be." She reassures me.

I smile back feeling good that she's fully committed to helping me. Realising that actually she's been fully committed all along it is in fact me that hasn't been.

"I think I'd like that" I voice looking up at Naomi. She seems pleased with my answer.

"Good" she says kissing me on the forehead and getting up. "Well I've got a girl downstairs I promised to watch cartoons with so I'll leave you to some more rest."

"Actually I think I might join you, if that's ok. I think watching morning cartoons sounds like fun right now." I say wanting to spend some time just chilling with Naomi and Kelly. I had spent a lot of time with Kelly lately but with Naomi not so much. I mean we had been spending a few hours together each week but I had been holding back. Now I was willing to just let myself be and relax into the easy feeling she gave me.

"Course" Naomi said "One thing though you might want to have a shower first because I don't think our girl needs to know about the smell of alcohol and drugs just yet."

My face blushes at this. I look up to see Naomi's joking face. I could tell that I really did smell like that I mean I wasn't surprised. She wasn't mad about it though in fact by the looks of it she found it amusing.

"Sorry" I say again not really knowing what I'm apologising for. Really it was another blanket apology for all the silly things I had done. Last night had been pretty selfish as had all my other clubbing shenanigans.

"We're past that now Ems ok. We've both said our piece and come to an agreement to sort this out slowly together. So I'll see you downstairs soon yeah?" she informed me confidently. It seemed she always knew what to say to make me feel better about my actions.

"Yeah ok" I agreed as she left the room.

An hour later, as the three of us were cuddled on the couch with a large plate of assorted toast, the door bell rang. I looked at Naomi wondering who she thought it could be. She smiled before moving the plate onto my knee and heading to get the door. Kelly looked up at me smiling and we continued to munch on our toast as we awaited Naomi's return. We didn't have to wait long as she came back into the room a few minutes later with Katie.

"Hey" I say a little nervously knowing that Katie might not forgive me as readily as Naomi had. I vaguely remember her being quite angry at both me and the girl I was leaving with last night.

"Hey Ems, hey Kelly how we doing today?" she asks and I'm somewhat relived by her friendly tone. Then again it could just be a show. I have a feeling she wouldn't be being so kind had my daughter been absent from the room.

"I'm good Aunty" Kelly replied eagerly "I've been watching cartoon s with my Mums." I couldn't help but smile at that. It really didn't take much to please Kelly. She still had that amazing childish notion that her parents where like super hero's. They could do no wrong and had magic powers that could fix anything for her. To be fair I couldn't disagree with her in terms of Naomi. I was beginning to think she did have some kind of special powers.

"Mind if I borrow your Mumma?" she asked Kelly.

Kelly shook her head letting Katie know she was fine with it. I passed the plate of toast back to Naomi who had sat back down upon entering the room. She smiled at me and winked letting me know she was here if I needed her. I returned the gesture and followed Katie into the dinning room where we could talk away from baby ears.

When the door was closed behind us she smacked my arm and then pulled me into a tight hug. The gesture confused me greatly.

"What was that for bitch?" I ask as she pulls away from the hug with a large smirk on her face.

"The first was for being a total twat. The second was for finally realising it and moving towards sorting it out. I've got your stuff in the car by the way, figured maybe you'd be ready to at least sleep in the guest room now."

"Thanks Katie" I say sincerely thankful. "How did you know I was here anyway?" I asked confused. If she had turned up to see me with my stuff she must have had prior knowledge to the fact I was here. The last time I remember talking to her was when she had given up last night. I do believe her parting line was 'fine slag do what ever the fuck you want but don't come crying to me when you regret this and you've lost the love of your life'.

"Nai rang me last night. She knew I'd be worried about you and I must say I was fairly relieved when I got her call. You are going to cut the shit now yeah?"

"Course" I say smiling "I'm really ready to try now. I felt so bad last night even considering sleeping with that girl. I think if I'd gone through with it I'd never be able to live with myself." I explain.

"That's interesting because Nai was convinced of the same thing. She really does know you pretty well." Katie says smiling.

"Yeah, thanks for everything Katie. Things are definitely looking up. I know it's going to be tough to build everything back up to what it was but at least I'm willing to try now."

"For sure Ems" she says hugging me. "Anyhow I better run I've got places to be and you my dear sister have a family to reconnect with. Walk me to the car and you can grab your things.

I sit down and sink back into the couch I had spent most of the day sitting on. It had been nice. Once Katie had left we have continued watching television until nothing watchable seemed to be on. So of course the next logical step was little mermaid movies. Later on I had decided it was my turn to cook for Naomi. Kelly and I had spent time in the kitchen brainstorming ideas for dinner and making a trip to the supermarket for some essential ingredients. Naomi had been quite impressed with our steak, salad and homemade wedges. I had loved spending time teaching Kelly how to wash lettuce and season wedges. Eventually time had worn on and it was time to tuck Kelly in. We had both been coerced into reading a story to her before receiving our sloppy goodnight kisses.

Now here we were sitting on the couch together alone together for the first time since this morning.

"Can I ask you something?" I say remembering my confusion from earlier.

"Anything" she replies in an instant, cheekily adding "even though you technically did."

"Whatever I say" playfully hitting her in the arm. "Anyway so I remember crashing out last night in all my clothes. Then when I got up this morning I realised I was completely naked. Do you know how that happened?" I ask somewhat confused. I mean I guess a logical explanation would be that Naomi took all my clothes off. That doesn't seem quite right though. I mean she's been so nice and gentle with me and I don't think she would do something like that while I was sleeping for fear of scaring me. I'm interrupted from my thoughts by a short laugh from Naomi.

"Just so you know that was definitely not my doing. You actually got up to be sick a few hours after you fell asleep. After that you told me you where feeling much better and then proceeded to take off all your clothes. You said you wanted to be close to me. Told me I had to take all mine off too. I managed to persuade you I was very cold and needed my clothes and perhaps you did as well. You decided this was an acceptable excuse but you didn't need yours on. Then you got back into bed and snuggled really close to me. Not that I was complaining a beautiful stark naked women in your bed isn't really something to complain about." She explains laughing throughout.

"I can't believe I did that" I say a little embarrassed.

"Yeah I may have left a bit out too; it involved singing and dancing around the room naked."

"No" I say probably very red in the face. "Why? Why would I do that?"

"Aw Ems don't worry it's nothing I've not seen before. Beside when we were in college we used to do things like that all the time. Only difference is that this time I wasn't drunk so I remember everything some much clearer." She says trying to make me feel better.

"Guess so" I say knowing there is nothing I can do about it now. Naomi nods and moves closer to me taking one of my hands in hers. It's nice she's been a little bit more affectionate today and she's been calling me Ems. I like it, like that she feels like she can be again. Of course she hasn't gone pass quick kisses and light touches still letting me lead the way.

"Ems I need you to know something ok" she asks a serious tone to her voice. I nod at her indicating I'm listening and ready to hear whatever she has to say.

"So there is something you don't know, something fairly big. I haven't told you because I don't want you to know before you're ready to. Only thing is that you might find out without meaning to before then. So if you do I just want you to know that I'm not hiding it from you. I want you to know I really do. As soon as you think your ready all you have to do is say the word and I'll tell you ok." Naomi explains looking at me sincerely as she speaks.

"Yeah ok" I say nodding my confirmation. "Is it good, this thing I don't know about?" I ask wanting a little bit more of an idea of what I'm in for.

"Yes it will be when you're ready to hear it. At least I hope it is. I told Katie and she thought it was so I'm hoping you'll have a similar reaction."

"Ok good" I say supremely curious now. "If I told you I wanted to know now what would you do?" I ask curiosity getting the better of me.

"I'd tell you of course" Naomi states as if it is obvious. "I think we both know you're not quite ready yet though don't we." She continues. She's right too. Despite my huge curiosity to what this thing might be I know I'm not ready just yet for some possibly life changing news. I've had enough of that lately. I think I'll just let myself adjust to this new life, well seemingly new to me, before I change it again.

"Yeah" I say affirming her words "Your right."

"It's not going anywhere I promise as soon as you want to know you will." She reassures. "Before I go bed there's one more thing. She gets up and grabs something from next to the TV returning with it in her hands. She hands me what seems to be a homemade DVD. I look down at it. On the top if the DVD is small curly writing I recognise as my own. I've written inside a love heart and it says '_If you ever doubt how much I love you just watch this __ xox Mrs Campbell Fitch._' I look up at Naomi wanting an answer to what exactly it is she's given me.

"It's a video from our honey moon. I know you don't want other people giving you second hand accounts of your feelings. This on the other hand has a video of you telling me how much you love me and vice versa. We made it to capture how we felt on that day. I thought maybe it was another when you're ready thing. Just make sure you stop when the camera gets put on the tripod." Naomi says.

"What happens if I don't stop then?" I ask puzzled. It only takes a glance at Naomi and her raised eyebrow to answer my question.

"Eww Naomi I can't believe we did that." I say looking at her wondering how in earth she talked me into making a tape like that.

"Hey for the record that one was all your doing. I can't say I didn't take a part in initiating a couple of the other tapes but that is the first and it was all you. To be fair you actually had to convince me." She says.

"We have more than one?" I ask surprised again. Apparently I've come a long way from the shy virgin I remember myself as.

"Yeah don't be such a prude Ems. There for our personal use only of course." She explains and I choose just to accept that and move on.

Half and hour later we are both in bed ready to turn out the light.

"Hey" I say grabbing Naomi's attention. "Where's my goodnight kiss? Kelly got one what about me?" I moan.

"What can I say, I just love her more" Naomi says jokingly even though it's the truth. She does love Kelly more than me and I'm sure once I figure all this out it will be the same for me.

"Well you've loved me longer and I want my kiss" I say looking at her with expectance. She leans in and brushes her lips softly on mine.

"Night beautiful" she says as she pulls back.

"Night Naomi" I reply "I had a really nice time today. It's amazing we didn't really do anything but I feel happier than I have since the accident."

"Yeah that's the beauty of us Ems. It's not about having a hugely magical and exciting life. It's about finding the magic and excitement in simple everyday situations. That's why we're special we have what everyone wants yet few find and even fewer realise its value" Naomi explains.

It makes sense, perfect sense. If watching television and cooking dinner can feel like the best day ever then life really is about the people we spend it with and not what we do. I drifted of to sleep with this thought. Hoping that tomorrow would bring more progress and realisations like this that would get me back to were apparently I once was.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey everybody**

**So here is the next chapter hope you like it. There is some adult type content in this one so if you have a problem with that stop when you think it's getting close. AS always thanks for the reviews they are the reason I write. I mean what is the point of writing if no one reads. If there are any request let me know and I I'll see what I can do. Who knows a little comment by you may turn into the main feature of a chapter if it's let loose in my brain. **

**Anyway enjoy. **

I look up from the blocks I'm building with Kelly as my phone alerts me to a new message. I smile as I open it and see it's from Naomi. In the week since my arrival home drunk, we had settled into an easy routine. She was at work for most of the day while I was at home with Kelly. When she got home we would eat together and just hang out being a family. We would tuck Kelly in together and then spend time talking or playing cards. It was nice, I felt like I was getting to know her better and she really is being so understanding.

I push the open message button on my screen and read the text.

_Hey Ems our friends invited us out for drinks tonight mum offered to look after Kelly. You keen? If you are I thought we could make a date of it and do dinner first. Could be fun ;)._

I reread the message considering the offer. It might be nice to spend sometime with Naomi outside of the house, see what she's like on a date. Then again the prospect of meeting friends scared me. Naomi had filled me in on our college friends vaguely during one of our evening chats. The task of meeting them and trying to reconnect with all of them seemed quite daunting. Along with this apparently I had known them almost as long as I had Naomi. The thought of having several people all with multiple years of memories of me when I was going to have trouble remembering their names didn't sound fun. On the other hand I had to do it sooner or later. Although a few small clips of my memory had returned a check up with my doctor had informed me that there was no guarantee when, or if the rest would. She did indicate that it was promising that bits had but that I needed to get back into life, bits may return when I least expect. Well that was easy for her to say she wasn't the one not able to remember beyond their teenage years. She also informed me to keep note of all the things that happened leading up to any memory retrieval because we may find a pattern. Certain situations might be the trigger to regain my lost time. My phone beeped again pulling me from my thoughts and I look to Kelly realising I had been zoned out for a minute. She's still fully engrossed in building the tower and bridge she decided she wanted to drive her cars over. I look down and see another message from Naomi.

_Just so you know both Katie and I will be there to have your back and hold your hand if you need it. No pressure though and if you only want 2 do 1 or the other that's ok 2. _

Apparently I had taken long enough to answer that Naomi had assumed I was worried. She was right of course. I couldn't help but smile at how sweet she was. I also loved the way she text. She had a phone with a QWERTY keyboard on it so tended to type out full words. I had discovered this as she had sent me a number of texts over the last few days checking up on me and Kelly.

"Hey baby" I say getting Kelly's attention. She looks up from her blocks expectantly knowing I've interrupted her play for a reason. "How would you like to go see Nana tonight?" I ask. I guess I've decided to let the fate of tonight hang in the decision of a two year old. If she wants to see her nana then I'll go on a date with Naomi and see where the night takes us.

"Want to see Nana" she says enthusiastically. "Nana got lollies, tells me funny stories"

"Ok good" Emily replies as Kelly goes back to her important task.

_Dinner sounds good not sure about drinks can we play it by ear? What time are you home 2day? _

I reply to Naomi's text. I use full words much like her because I have learnt she doesn't understand text language. If I use it to shorten my messages it takes five more trying to explain what I've said. I fiddle with the phone in my hand waiting for her reply somewhat nervously. Despite the time we have been spending together I feel like texting is the time both of us get most confident. Naomi always seems somewhat flirty in her messages something she seems to hold back a little when we are together. I don't think this is usual it's just a part of her trying to make me comfortable. I have noticed sometimes when we are together that she is visibly trying to resist the urge to do things. She looks quite cute doing it and sometimes I can't help but ease her tenseness by pecking her softly on the lips or taking her hand in mine. She must feel like a teenager all over again with all these feelings she's not sure what to do with. I have to say though I think I might be getting a little smitten for her too. I love our nightly time together just relaxing and I always look forward to seeing her after work.

My phone message alert sounds again and Kelly looks up this time interrupted from her play.

"Who is that Mumma?" she asks pointing to my phone.

"It's Mummy" I reply to Kelly. She seems to like this answer and comes to sit in my lap.

"What she doing" Kelly asks craning her neck backwards to look in my eyes. I bring my phone up and open the message eager to see what her reply might be.

_:) Looking forward to dinner anywhere u want 2 go cause I'll ring and book a table. I know y u want to play it by ear, just so u know I never put out on a first date. Anyway hoping to get off early should be home by 2 I miss my girls. Feels like I barely seen Kelly it blows having to work extra time this week. _

I smile and look back down at Kelly stroking her hair gently.

"Mummy's at work she said she might be home early though." I explain.

"I hope so" Kelly says a hint of sadness in her tone. "I miss mummy".

I don't know how to respond to that. Naomi actually works fairly short hours compared to most people. She only does four days a week and 6 hours a day. This week though due to an urgent assignment she's had to go in on her normal day off. She's also being doing closer to 8 or 9 hours a day. She had been extremely apologetic about this but apparently she was a top person in her field and had to finish a project that was due for publication next week. Usually her prestige worked to her advantage because of the fact she had offers from all over the world she was able to pick and chose. This meant she could normally do a shorter than usual working week but bring home a larger than normal pay. Or so she told me when I asked. She seemed quite shy about the fact that she was a big name in her field. I could tell her work was important to her but no where near as important as her family. The fact that Kelly was asking about where Naomi was now actually made me feel a little guilty. I mean Naomi had still been here to eat breakfast with us every morning and home to eat dinner with us every night. What had Kelly said when I'd been staying at Katie's and some days she wouldn't see me at all. It was clear that she was spoilt in terms of the time and attention she received from both me and Naomi. That of course was not a bad thing entirely the opposite. I'd always been adamant of the fact that someone else wouldn't be raising my child. It seemed I'd managed to achieve this. It pleased me that I could see some of the values I remembered having in this life I didn't remember.

"She'll be home soon baby" I say taking note of the time. Its almost noon so by the time Kelly and I have lunch and finish off the block tower it really won't be long. I take my phone and creates another message to Naomi.

_Yeah cause that is exactly what I was thinking Naomi. How about our favourite Indian restaurant for dinner? Kelly says she misses u she hopes your home soon, want us 2 save u some lunch?_

I send assuming that the fact she's finishing early means she's forgoing her lunch hour in favour of coming home early.

"Right Kelly what are we going to have for lunch?" I ask kissing her head as she's still sitting in my lap. She lifts her shoulder at me in an I don't know gesture, something I feel rather than see.

"Well would you like to help me make a pizza?" I ask hoping it will get her mind off Naomi for a bit if I let her help with lunch. She nods eagerly and I send her off to the bathroom to wash her hands as I check the message from Naomi that has just arrived.

_All booked in at for a meal at 7. U do realise u just remembered something right cause I'm fairly sure our daughter didn't tell u about that restaurant. Lunch would be great. Tell Kelly I'll be home as soon as I can and that I love her. _

Wow Naomi was right I hadn't noticed that, yes I had recalled a fact that I hadn't even thought about. Now that I did think about it seems the only thing I can recall is they make amazing chicken korma. That was better than nothing and I could already feel my mouth start to salivate at the thought of it. I decide to send one more text to Naomi before getting out the ingredients for our pizza.

_Wow I did 2 can't wait for some korma considering that's all I remember. We'll save you some pizza see you soonish. :)_

I send off, one last text from Naomi coming back almost instantly.

_U always did know how to look after your women ;)_

I can't help but smile at that as I take out the premade pizza base and all the toppings I think we might like. Kelly returns to the room and smiles brightly as I give her Naomi's message. I move a chair up to the kitchen bench for her and lift her up. We stand at the bench making decisions together about our lunch.

I look down at the DVD in my hand. It was the first time I had been alone in the house since I'd moved back in. Naomi had come home and we'd spent the afternoon together. She was now taking Kelly over to her mothers saying she'd be about an hour because she had a few things to grab on the way home. She'd left about 10 minutes ago and in that time I'd been sitting on the couch trying to decide if I was ready to watch this video. I was really tempted I wanted to see what I had to say to Naomi on our wedding day. At the same time I was reluctant. I didn't want other people telling me how to feel or behave. As Naomi pointed out this was in fact me, how could I argue with me telling me how to feel. Getting up off the couch I made a definite decision putting the disc quickly into the player and returning to my seat. Then I pick up the remote and press play before I can change my mind.

"_Emily what are you doing?" _comes Naomi's amused voice as the cap of the camera is taken off and a shot of her sitting on a bed in her wedding dress comes into screen. _"I was thinking we could make a clip about today. About how we feel, I know there are photos and stuff but this is just you and me." _

"_Ems I'm never going to forget how I feel right now, I promise, do we really need to record something we'll be able to remember it together."_

"_What happens if you get old and lose your memory what happens if you forget who I am. I want our feelings today to be preserved so we can always remember." _

"_What about you Ems what if you forget?" _

"_I could never forget you Naomi Campbell-Fitch; man that sounds good doesn't it."_

I see a lazy smile come across the face of Naomi on screen. Her eyes crinkle up and she looks adoringly at the camera, well probably at me but since I'm behind the camera who could be sure.

"_But just because I love you so much I'll record one too" _I continue.

"_Good now if you want me to be able to tell you exactly how I feel you need to come closer." _Naomi says and pats her hands on her knees. There is some shuffling and some fumbled camera movements before a shot of me sitting in Naomi's lap comes on screen. She has her arms wrapped tightly around me and one of mine was obviously holding the camera away from us.

"_That's much better" _Naomi says snuggling her face into my neck and kissing it gently.

"_Right you want me to say something beautiful about today. First of all I love you more than anything and today was amazing. I'm not going to say anything cliché like it was the best day of my life. The reason is because everyday I spend with you is amazing. Being with you just gives me a happy warm feeling no matter what we're doing. I love that we confirmed that today that we are going to spend the rest of our live together, but I knew that the first time I kissed you. Since you and I have been a coupled everyday I spend with you has been the best day. I love you Emily Campbell-Fitch." _Naomi finishes giving me a kiss on the lips.

"_Sappy enough for you?" _

"_You're perfect, I know you like to pretend you're all tough and stuff but really you're just a big sap." _I say laughing.

"_Shh I've got a reputation to keep" _Naomi moans peppering me with kisses.

"_Right well how about you my beautiful wife say your piece so we can get on with the important things like consummating our marriage." _Naomi says with a wide grin winking at me.

"_Ha you're so sure of yourself who said you were getting any tonight?" _I say teasingly causing Naomi to slap me playfully.

"_Wife beating already babe most people wait till after the honey moon to start that" _I joke again. Naomi just looks at me before capturing my lips in a kiss. Its nice seeing this seems me and Naomi really did have a loving and playful relationship.

"_You're right I should record my piece so we can get onto more important things." _I say pulling back from the kiss a little breathless. I lean a little closer to the Television and turn up the volume eager to hear myself speak.

"_Naomi Campbell-Fitch despite the fact you're definitely not perfect you're perfect for me. I love you despite your annoying habits and strange tastes. I think that's what let me know that I really do love you, I would be smiling when you did something I would curse anyone else for doing. Um well seems I'm not as good at this as you are. Today was amazing but your right so is every other day when we're together. I'm a little bit tipsy from the champagne and I don't know what else to say but I love you. I love the way you look, the way you smell, the way you sound, the way you taste and the way you feel. I love you Naomi and I never want you to forget it. So don't ok no matter what happens you always remember now and here because right now I can't ever imagine wanting anything else but this us and whatever our life together might bring."_

I watch as the television version of me finishes and leans in to captures Naomi's lips. Wow I can see why Naomi had given this to me to watch. It was clear as day that I loved her here, that we were a strong couple who really did share everything. It made me feel good knowing I mean it didn't really change anything. I still needed to slowly work my way back to Naomi but it was nice to know where I could get back to. That I had made a choice that the me I didn't know would make. Not that, that made sense because if I hadn't forgotten then I wouldn't be here trying to remember and therefore wouldn't have to make the decision. What I really mean is that it's comforting to see. I'm startled from my thoughts as more dialogue sounds from the television.

"_Ems why don't you put that away so we can relax properly yeah?" _

"_Or we could put it over there and let it remember the whole night" _

"_You Emily Campbell-Fitch are naughty. We don't need to record anymore we can have each other whenever we want why do we need a tape?"_

"_It might be fun not like anyone else would see it and the thought of getting to watch it later is pretty exciting"_

"_Ems" _Naomi says in protest. Then I watch as I pull a little face at her before kissing her lips and whispering something in her ear. Naomi nods slowly nervous smile spreading across her lips. There is some more moving of the camera before it's placed on what must be a tripod. I know Naomi told me to stop watching here but it wouldn't hurt just to watch a little more would it. I see myself move back onto the bed and Naomi and I begin to kiss. I only mean to watch for a short while I swear but it's just so beautiful and loving and it makes me feel happy knowing I've got that. Well that I can have that when I'm ready again. All of a sudden without me really noticing I'm not just watching kissing. Both of us are down to just our underwear and there are soft moans and wandering hands. Again I tell myself to stop but I can't. I watch as things escalate even further as bras are discarded and I'm lying fully on top of Naomi. It seems I'm leading the way as I kiss and touch her all over.

It's strange really here I am thinking that I wouldn't know the first thing about pleasing a women, watching a movie that shows I'm actually pretty good at it. Well the noises coming from the onscreen Naomi would suggest so. I watch intently thinking perhaps I might be able to teach myself something. Right now the me onscreen is sucking one of Naomi's nipples and it seems to be driving her wild. The on screen action is actually making me feel like I actually want to be doing that. I watch a little longer feeling myself become incredibly turned on by the action. Naomi has taking over the lead now and I'm the one having my breasts fondled. The tension on screen is obvious and I can tell that things are about to progress even further. My thought is confirmed when I see Naomi move down and remove my underwear removing her own at the same time. She then settles in between my legs and begins doing things I'd dreamt about after our kiss in middle school. After a few minutes telly me interrupts Naomi from her ministrations.

"_Naomi, Noams" _I say and she pulls away from her task.

"_Babe that's fucking amazing but you're not the only one with a beautiful new wife who they want to make love to. Can we do this together babe?"_

As an answer Naomi moves up the bed and kisses me on the lips. She then pulls away and both of us rearrange ourselves into a sitting position so we have optimum access. I watch as Naomi and I begin to make love together. As well as being incredible sexy, it's utterly beautiful. It's like we know instinctively what the other needs and wants. Soft warm kisses and smouldering looks are exchanged. We're leaned in close together and Naomi it whispering things in my ear as I can see we both must be getting close. Just as it looks like everything is about to reach its peak on the telly I hear the front door open. Fuck it Naomi where's the remote. Crap it not here, I can hear her making her way into the living room.

"Hey Ems" she says walking in stopping abruptly when she sees what I'm watching. I finally find the remote and push the stop button. It's too late though she's already seen it. I feel myself start to blush heavily.

"Sorry" I say looking down at my hands ashamed at what I'd been watching.

"Ems" I hear her say followed by a laugh. I look up surprised to see her smiling not at all angry.

"You don't need to be sorry. You're not doing anything wrong, just watching a home movie that I actually told you to watch." Naomi says.

"Yeah but you said not the watch that bit" I reply looking down at my hands again.

"Only reason I said that Ems is because I wanted to warn you, didn't want you to watch it without knowing and think I was trying to force something on you." Naomi explains.

"Ok" I say still highly embarrassed that she'd caught me. I could see the irony in being embarrassed that she's caught me watching the tape considering what the two of us were doing together on it.

"Right I'm going to go get ready for this date of ours; you think you can be ready in half and hour?"

"Yeah" I nod affirmatively.

"Cool" Naomi says going to walk away. "And Ems" she says causing me to look up at her. "I would highly recommend watching the end if you were enjoying what you saw, probably don't have time right now though because it goes on for a while."

With that she leaves the room to get ready for our date. I moved up off the sofa thinking I should really do the same. I was really looking forward to this date I just hope the hormones I felt coursing through my system after watching that video didn't cause me to do something I wasn't quite ready for. 


	11. Chapter 11

**Here goes another one, enjoy. Let me know if you love it hate it should have had more of something. **

"How's your food" I ask looking over at the beautiful woman sat in front of me. She smiles widely finishing off her mouthful before responding.

"It's just as good as I remember which is quite reassuring for me. It's good to know that the memories I do have are at least accurate. How's yours?" she asks looking down at my food an interested look on her face.

"It is really good Ems, I know it looks like baby poo you've told me that before. You've never been game enough to try any though. Maybe tonight's the night; I dare you to try just a mouthful." I challenge looking up to find a hesitant look on Emily's face.

"I'm not sure" She says clearly put off by the colour and consistency of my dish.

"You're missing out I'm telling you. I would never encourage you to try some if I thought you wouldn't like it" I say seeing her seriously considering the option. I tempt her even further by holding up a small spoonful near her face. She looks at it for a second before leaning in and taking it in her mouth. I watch her waiting for a reaction, also finding the way she pulls her mouth slowly off the spoon incredibly sexy.

"Mmm' Emily acknowledges licking her lips "You're right Naomi that's really good"

"I'm glade you like it Ems, I've been trying to talk you into trying it for a while." I say smiling at her. She lets out a light laugh reaching over and grabbing another spoonful of my chicken sagwala.

"Naomi you do realise now every time we come here I'm going to eat half of your meal too." Emily says cheekily.

"Yeah I thought as much but I'm sure for you I could cope with that." I reply.

"You always have just the right cheesy thing to say don't you" Emily states looking at me and grinning. It's beautiful and I love the fact that this feels normal like she's being the her I know.

"Yes and on that note I actually have a little something for you" I say leaning down to retrieve the item from my bag.

"Wow" she says as I push the small jewellery box across the table to her. "So Kelly's not the only one who gets a present today."

"No I thought both my beautiful girls deserved a special gift. Course your gift isn't as cool as Kelly's play dough ice cream parlour but I thought you might like it."

"I don't deserve this Nai, if anyone should be getting a present right now it should be you" Emily says looking at me with emotion in her eyes.

"No Ems" I say taking her hands in mine. "You're wrong you do deserve this, you're an amazing person. Besides I'm the one who said I was going to woo you. You don't need to buy me gifts Ems; you already have me that's not going to change. I on the other hand have to re-win your heart. Don't go saying you don't deserve it when you don't even know what it is, go on open it." I say letting go of her hands so she can. She looks hesitant for a minute before letting it go and flicking open the small blue box.

"Wow it's beautiful" she says removing the small silver locket. She carefully opens it, I watch her to gage her reaction. Unlike most lockets instead of having a photo put inside I had got one laser engraved onto the metal. She looks up at me smiling looking like she's at a loss for words.

"I didn't mean to be presumptuous by putting myself in the picture" I say referring to the fact that the picture is of Kelly, Emily and I. "It's just I sent it away to be done a while ago" I explain.

"I love it Naomi it a beautiful picture" She says leaning across the table and pecking me on the lips.

"I' glade you like it" I reply taking another mouthful of my curry and trying to feel less awkward. It's one of the strangest feelings being on a first date with your wife, pretending to get to know her again so she can get to know you. To be fair I feel like we've made a lot of progress since Emily moved back in. I feel like she's finding herself and is my same old Emily.

We finish our dinner at a leisurely pace comfortable conversation flowing nicely between the two of us. I can tell Emily's enthusiasm for her gift was real as she has put it on and lifts her hand to run her fingers over it every few minutes, as if making sure its real. All two soon we have finished our dinner and are outside the restaurant.

"So what do you say Ems, up for a few drinks with our rowdy mates?" I ask looking over at her as we make our way back to the car. She lets her hand lazily link with mine and I can't help but smirk at her. A lazy grin also takes over her face. I can see the glass of wine she had with dinner is having a small affect on her. She seems a lot more relaxed than she has been lately.

"Yeah it might be fun" she responds just before we reach the car. "I don't want to go home yet, I'm having a good night."

"I'm glade" I reply unlocking the car and opening her door for her. "My lady" I say in a silly accent gesturing for her to get in. She laughs at my act, making me grin that's exactly the reaction I was hoping for.

Ten minutes later we are pulling up outside our usual pub. I look over at Emily who's gotten quite all of a sudden, in comparison to the passionate singing along to the radio she had been doing.

"You right Ems?" I ask taking her hand in mine and giving it a squeeze.

"Just a bit nervous" she admits looking over at me chewing on her bottom lip.

"You'll be right Hun all these people already love you just like I do, if anyone should be nervous it should be them. Honestly I'm not sure why we became friends with some of them. Perhaps now you're older and wiser you'll wonder too. I'm there with you if you think we should drop any of them babe." I say laughing at the end.

"You're terrible Nai" she says hitting me jokingly on the arm. "Off we go then it's now or never right."

We walk into the bar to see everyone else already sitting at stools around a high table in the corner of the bar. I gesture over at them as Emily and I make our way over to the table. Cooks the first one to notice us and get up from his seat greeting me with a quick hug before looking at Emily.

"Emilio man, how's it going? Herd you got yourself into a bit of memory trouble yeah. It's ok the Cookie monster will forgive you if you've forgotten our little roll in the hay back in the day." Cook says still the funny man he always was, though considerably more grown up about it most of the time. Emily looks at me as if for confirmation so I give her a small shake of my head.

"Hi" she says timidly shaking Cooks hand quickly.

"Hey Emily" JJ says quick to follow Cook in a greeting. "I'm JJ and while Cook's reference to sexual activity was merely an attempt at humour, it is in fact an actuality that at one stage you and I were sexually intimate." He blurts out in only a way JJ can. I give him a sharp look thinking perhaps now's not the best time to be throwing random memories at my girl.

"Gosh, bobbins, jolly roger. I'm sorry I didn't mean to say that you see I actually have problems with social interactions. Though my inadequacy has seemed to improve with age and experience on occasion I still say completely inappropriate things. I apologise if I've made you feel uncomfortable in anyway, if it's any consolation I have in fact made myself feel uncomfortable. I would actually like to stop talking now so I don't say more than I already have but you see it seems my brains filter has other ideas. Its seems to just keep spurting things out like did you know that"

"JJ" I say sharply interrupting him from his rant.

"Gosh sorry" he says cheeks reddening clearly embarrassed by his outburst.

"It's ok JJ" Emily responds before I have a chance to. "It's nice to meet you, meet you again I guess" she says politely trying to make him feel better. She links her hand through mine telling me that the encounter had in fact freaked her out a little. I lean close into her ear.

"It's ok Ems he's just a little flustered doesn't like meeting people, knows he doesn't come across well on first meeting. You and he are actually quite close friends. He's lovely once you get past the nervousness and random rants" I whisper feeling her relax a little. Effy introduces herself as well and Thomas and Panda greet us politely. Emily already knew who they were due to meeting them in one of the night clubs. Katie also gets up and gives us both a big hug winking at me with a happy smile as I lead Emily to the bar. She seems to see the positive changes in her sister since the drunken encounter too. It's nice to know she's almost as pleased as I am to see Ems slowly stepping back into her life.

"What would you like beautiful?" I ask as we reach the bar.

"A vodka orange please" She answers swinging our hands between us, making me feel much younger than my years. Of course that's not a bad thing. I feel like Emily will always keep me young. She's the one woman I'll always want to make out like a teenager with or shag all night not worrying about how tired we might be the next day. This second first date experience is definitely not a bad thing.

"A lemon lime and bitters and a vodka orange please" I ask as the bar maid greets me and requests my order.

"No problem" She says walking off to prepare our drinks.

"You not drinking tonight?" Emily asks looking over at me puzzled.

"Nah" I say running my thumb over the back of her hand "I'll drive us home, you have as much as you want though"

"You won't even have one with me?" Emily asks looking up at me her brown eyes trying to persuade me into it.

"I'm not really a just one kind of drinker Ems and I'd rather not have to get a taxi home. You enjoy yourself though." I try and explain away. My statement made me sound a bit like an alcoholic but I guess that's better than freaking her out with the truth. Emily looks like she's about to formulate another argument for me but the bar maid returns with our drinks interrupting her.

I thank her and pay before following Emily back to the table and sitting next to her. She reaches out and grabs my hand resting both of them on my thigh. She's obviously still a little nervous at the whole situation. I like that she trusts me enough now to reach out and seek comfort in my touch, it's nice.

"Right" Cook says interrupting my thoughts "Who's up for a friendly game of 'I've Never' I know we're not teenagers anymore but it might help Emily here learn a few things about us all."

I look around the table searching for the verdict of the other occupants. My eyes fall on Emily's to see how she feels about the proposal. She grins at me before opening her mouth to speak.

"Yeah could be fun. Naomi's not drinking tonight so I'm going to be a team with her and drink for the both of us. I won't be able to tell you if I've done most of it anyway." She explains.

"Alright" Cook says excitedly knowing if Emily agrees everyone else will. "Good plan Emily I'm sure most of the answers will apply to the both of you anyway" he adds.

"Can I start?" Panda says enthusiasm in her voice. Everyone around the table gives her a gesture in the affirmative.

"Whizzer I always did love this game. Right, um, I've never joined the mile high club" she says confidently after a minute of thought. Emily looks up at me asking without words if she needs to drink. I grin at her thinking about the occasion and nod to her, causing her to take a sip of her drink. Cook drinks as well no surprises there but everyone else leaves their glasses on the table.

"Mmm my turn now" Katie says as she sitting to the left of Panda. "I've never been in love." Emily drinks to this without even having to look at me, everyone else at the table drinks too except for Katie that is. That's an impressive feat I have to admit. It's not often in our game that people manage to get everyone but themselves drinking. Emily and I are next and she looks at me.

"Got a question I won't have to drink to Naomi?" she asks. I think hard it's quite a tough ask Emily and I have quite a large range of experiences.

"Um best I've got is I've never owned a pet" I say quietly into Emily's ear wanting to gain her approval before putting it forward for the game.

"That's really the best you've got" she asks sounding a little disappointed.

"You wanted not to have to drink Emily. There are a lot of things we could say that would be more interesting but you and I have done most of them." I explain and she seems to accept it as she voices my question. It gets everyone to drink but Cook and of course Emily.

We continue playing for another half hour or so everyone having fun coming up with interesting questions. It's almost like everyone is trying to get my girl drunk. Every single question apart from a few of our own ones has caused Emily to have to drink. Now I have a cute little tipsy redhead on my hands.

"Dance with me Noam's" She requests as a song comes on the pub stereo. She leans in close to me as if leaning on me for balance in an attempt not to fall off the high stool.

"Please" She adds right next to my ear. I can feel her warm breath moisten the inside of my ear. How could I say no to that, especially since she was running her hand up and down my thigh.

"Alright come on then" I say taking her hand and leading her to the dance floor. It's a fairly up beat sort of tune playing but it seems Emily doesn't care. She wraps her arms around me and buries her face in my neck like a slow dance. I'm a little surprised for a few minutes, eventually catching myself and wrapping my arms around her placing a kiss on her hair. She must feel the gesture as she returns it placing a soft kiss on my neck where her face is located. I feel as she chooses to leave her lips there and they spread into a wide smile.

"This is nice" she says rubbing her nose up and down my neck.

"Mmmm" I say in response closing my eyes and enjoying having her close losing myself in her arms and the rhythm of the music.

"Naomi" she says after a few moments I feel her lean back to look at me and open my eyes to return her stare. "We've done a lot of stuff together haven't we? I mean traveled to foreign countries, had a child, graduated university, done aid work in Africa, shagged on a plane, actually scratch that last one apparently in terms of shagging it's the list of things we haven't done or places we haven't done it that's shorter." She says giggling.

"Yeah we have done a lot of stuff Ems" I confirm. She looks at me contemplating her words for a minute.

"I hope we do a lot more things too" she says quietly "I don't remember all that stuff but I have a feeling being with you would have made it great. I feel like I've only known you for a few weeks but already I feel safe, warm and happy with you. It's weird I feel like I'm slowly falling for you, but at the same time we have all this history."

I can't help but smile at her drunken ramble. She's falling for me again and honestly it feels just as good as the first time. Actually it might feel better because the fact of the matter is that last time I was trying to resist it. I didn't want to have Emily love me and I certainly didn't want to acknowledge that I might love Emily. It was almost like the two of them had reversed roles, I was now the one sure of my feelings and slowly guiding Emily towards her own. Of course the situations were somewhat different but the general idea was the same. I had in essence gone from being the pursued to the pursuer. It seems perhaps there are good things about both but right now seeing her wife begin to fall for her all over again felt pretty fucking amazing. The doubt and anguish had sucked but moments like this made it all worth it. I knew moments like this didn't mean all was sorted again, I of course remembered my own rollercoaster of feelings and actions when I was in Emily's shoes. Right now there was no point dwelling on the future tonight I gave myself permission to enjoy the moment.

"I hope so too Ems" I say realising I should probably respond to her cute little rant rather than just having my own internal one.

"Mmmm" she responds sleepily into my neck relaxing fully onto my body. I feel her breathing beginning to even out.

"Ems" I say shaking her softly "Emily babe if you're tired you need to wake up so I can take you home. You can't go to sleep here honey."

She opens her eyes again slowly and looks up at me clearly tired, her eyes bleary and slightly bloodshot from the booze.

"You're all warm and comfy" she says yawning "but maybe you're right it's getting late" she continues through another yawn.

We return back to the table bidding our remaining friend's farewell before heading to the car. The drive home took no more than ten minutes but about two minutes in Emily was asleep. Her head is leaned up against the window and her feet are bent under her awkwardly. I couldn't resist taking a sneaky picture on my phone before gently shaking her awake.

"What, where are we?" she asks confused looking up at me.

"We're home Ems, come on I'll help you inside." I say slowly helping her out her seat and into the house. It seems the few minutes nap in the car has revitalized her slightly as she now seems wide awake.

"So" she says almost nervously standing in the lounge. "I had a really nice time, you're so sweet" she articulates studying her hands nervously.

"Only when I have a reason to be" I counter taking her fiddling hands in my own. I then lean in and place a small soft kiss on her lips. It is a first date after all and what sort of impression would I be sending if I didn't kiss her. She seems to have forgotten all about her shyness and leans in for another slightly longer kiss. She quickly escalates its pace leaving me short of breath.

"Wow" I say pulling back looking at her with surprise.

"Yeah" she says clearly a bit surprised by her own actions. "Um I think it might be bed time" she continues looking very unsure of herself.

"You might be right Ems" I confirm "I think I'll be a true gentle woman and sleep in the guest room tonight. This is after all only a fist date and like I said I don't take women to bed after them. I can also see you're a little bit drunk and I don't want you moving too fast and regretting your actions tomorrow" I explain.

"Thanks" she says kissing me once more softly on the cheek and relaxing visibly.

"Night Emily" I say watching her walk towards the stairs.

"Night Naomi" she replies before ascending them and moving out of my sight. I do a quick check of the house to make sure everything is locked and off before climbing the stairs myself.

I'm woken suddenly from my sleep disorientated and unsure what woke me. I open my eyes and let them adjust to the darkness realising that there is now in fact a warm body pressed into my back.

"Ems" I ask slightly confused.

"Sorry I didn't want to wake you" she says quietly "I just, I missed you I've gotten used to sleeping with you and it doesn't feel right when your not there".

"It's ok, I understand" I say knowing the exact feeling. I snuggle back into her warmth knowing that though she may have moved for her own sleep it will have a positive affect on my own ability to rest.

I wake up suddenly again, to what I assume is morning, for completely different reasons. I sit up quickly and try to get my legs to move at the desired pace as I make my way to the bathroom. I reach the toilet just in time as I feel the warm sick make its way up my throat and expel into the toilet. I kneel down in front of it knowing there's more to come. My feelings are conflicted over the matter, on one hand it's exciting that the first obvious signs of a new life growing within me are presenting themselves, on the other I feel like shit. I can't contemplate my reasoning any further as my whole focus is once again focused on expelling the contents of my stomach.

"You ok Naoms" I hear as the second bout stops. I feel a warm hand rubbing circles on my back and realise that this actually started a few minutes ago I was just to preoccupied to take note at the time.

"Yeah I'm fine" I say, actually genuinely feeling slightly better as you tend to after a good chuck.

"That's weird it should be me in here, you didn't even have anything to drink last night" Emily say the sentence getting slower as she reaches the end and realisation dawns on her face. She looks suddenly alarmed as she seems to connect the two points together. Though there are a number of possible outcomes to reach from these two facts the distressed look on her face clues me on to the fact she's reached the right one.

"Uh th that thing yy you ww wanted ttt to ttell me" she inquires looking very unsure and nervous. "You're you're I mean are you?" she says unable to voice it instead pointing erratically at my stomach.

I nod in response. "If you're asking if I'm pregnant the answer is yes" I provide seeing her continue to look at me unsure of what to do.

"Umm yeah ok" she response, clearly finding it hard to form sentences, I sort of understand her reaction. I mean for her I guess it's like finding out your pregnant when you've only ever practised safe sex. I guess without the memories of the process we went through it's hard to comprehend, impossible to suspect.

"Random question but just to check we like planned this together right? I mean it's not a result of a one night stand with like Cook or something." Despite the implications of infidelity in her questions I can't help but laugh.

"You've meet Cook do you really think I would sleep with him, let alone without protection?" I ask a little mortified she'd even suggest it.

"I'm sorry, its just I'm a little shocked to say the least. I mean you warned me there was something you wanted me to know but this didn't even make it on my list of possibilities. I think I need to talk to Katie, think I might go visit her. I'm sorry I just really need some time to think yeah. I'll be back I promise I just need some time, to think, by myself, also to talk it over with someone you know." She trails of walking out of the room glancing back at me over her shoulder and giving me a small unsure smile before leaving. It makes me feel even more like crap than I did when I woke up.

Ten minutes later I hear the front door closing. I let myself crawl back into the guest room bed and cry for a short while. I blame it on the pregnancy hormones they're meant to make me emotional. About half an hour later I pull myself together and get ready to pick up Kelly.

"Hey" my mother says brightly as she opens the door "you alright love, don't quite look your usual self."

"Yeah a lot going on at the moment mum, as you know. Where is my baby girl?" I ask noting the absence of her at the door with my mother. Normally when I picked her up she was at the front door with her nana and excitedly in my arms the minute the door opened telling me about her night.

"She's in the lounge still playing with that play dough creations you got her. I had to stop her eating it a couple of times but she seems fine now. Loves it, we've made many ice creams." Mum explains smiling. "No Emily?" she adds as an after thought.

"She's at Katie's" I say not wanting to say too much but knowing that the small sentence had told my mother all she needed to know.

"What's going on daughter of mine" she asks gesturing me into the house. She leads me into the kitchen where we can see Kelly playing happily still unaware of my presence.

"Well, I guess I can tell you now that Ems knows. I'm pregnant, she found out unintentionally this morning and she needed some time to sort out her feeling on the subject."

'Love that's great" my mother says pulling me into a tight hug. "I mean the timings not perfect but it never is really, I mean you're the perfect example. I found out I was pregnant with you when I thought I had the world to discover. Turns out you gave me a whole new world to discover while being my whole world at the same time." I smile at my mothers story.

"So Emily was mad you didn't tell her?" my mother asks.

"Nah it's not that. I told her there was something I wanted her to know when she was ready, that it was a possibility she might find out by mistake. So when she found me head in the toilet this morning, added to the fact I've been refusing alcohol and the thing I had to tell her she did the math. I think she's just freaked out. It's why I wanted to wait for the right time but I guess life's like that. It could have been worse; she seemed scared I guess that's natural though especially in her situation. I mean I'm a little scared too so hopefully she'll sort herself out." I inform my mother causing her to hug me again whispering reassurance in my ear. A mother's hug really can solve everything at least for a few seconds. She had made me feel much better.

"Mummy" Kelly shouts finally noticing my presence and running over for a hug. While my mother's hug made me feel much better, Kelly's was even more powerful. I let my other worries wash away as I hug my daughter lifting her on my hip and listening to her chatter away.

"Where's Mumma" she asks suddenly.

"She went to visit Aunty Katie beautiful" I inform her. "She'll be home later. I was thinking that this afternoon we could go to the pool for a swim" I continue trying to draw her attention away from absent Emily. It was something I didn't want to dwell on. Things would play out how they should; they always seemed to though often with a scattered complication here and there.

"Swimming" Kelly said excitedly. She was a water baby and loved the pool ever since we started taker her as an infant. She'd done baby swim classes and progressed onto toddler ones now. Her skills in the water actually rivalled that of older children I'd seen still unable to do basic things like float or blow bubbles. Our Kelly was definitely a natural born swimmer.

After a quick cuppa with Mum which I had to endure the insistent pleas of 'can we go to the pool now Mummy?' we made it home again. I had promised Kelly we'd have a quick lunch and then be on our way to the swim centre near our house. We walk into the living room to find a sheepish looking Emily sitting on the couch.

"Mumma" Kelly says hugging her tightly causing Emily to smile and kiss the top of her head.

"Kelly baby why don't you go put your bag in your room for Mummy?" I ask knowing that Emily and I need to talk for a minute.

"Otay" she says picking it up from the floor and heading to her room.

"Hey" Emily says standing up from the couch "these are for you" she says handing me a bunch of yellow daffodils. "The lady at the shop said they represent new beginnings" she explains.

"Thanks Emily" I say feeling emotional over the gesture, apparently overnight I'd gained the ability to cry at the drop of a hat.

"I'm sorry about this morning it was just a big shock. I've talk with Katie now though, she wacked some sense into me and I'm nervous but excited. I mean how can I not be look at our beautiful daughter another one could be quite nice." she voices smiling. "I also got this I couldn't resist when I saw it on my walk home." she says holding up a tiny one piece. On the front it says in large rainbow letters 'my mummy's love me'.

"It's adorable Ems thank you" I react hugging her and placing a kiss on her head.

"Mumma" Kelly interrupts "What that for?" she asks pointing to the one piece.

"Come sit down Kelly me and Mummy need to tell you something" Emily says looking at me for confirmation. I nod walking over to the couch. No harm in telling Kelly now, honestly I would have told her sooner had Emily known. We sit down Kelly in the middle and Emily and I either side.

"You know how your friend at preschool has a baby brother?" I start knowing Emily and I can take this in turns.

"Yeah his name is Jacob" Kelly confirms smiling.

"Well" Emily takes over "your Mummy is going to have a baby too, your going to have a little brother or sister once they grow all big and strong inside of Mummy" Emily informs. I know there is a lot more me and her need to talk about to do with this but hearing her tell our daughter makes me feel a lot better about it than I did when she left this morning.

"Cool" Kelly says seemingly unfazed. "Can we still go swimming at the pool?" she asks.

Emily and I look at each other for a second then simultaneously burst into laughter. Our daughter really did have her priorities sorted. From the minute I told her we would be going swimming this afternoon that's all she had on her mind. Right now apparently she'd decided this whole baby thing wasn't any kind of issue as long as it didn't prevent us going swimming. Here laughing with Emily about it she certainly had done a good job at breaking the tension.


	12. Chapter 12

"I don't want to have a bath Mummy" Kelly shouts as Naomi try's to get her ready for bed. We had been at the pool for several hours this afternoon. It had been lovely, Kelly showing off her new swimming exercises or clinging onto Naomi or me giggling as we went in the wave pool. Seemed the whole day had tired her out somewhat to the point where she didn't want to do anything. She was at the point of tears, over tiredness evident in her actions. It was the first time in the short while since my accident that I had seen her refuse to do something.

"Baby girl you know if you don't have a bath after swimming in the pool it gives you an itchy rash." Naomi explains picking the now crying Kelly up gently and holding her close.

"Don't want to Mummy" she moans half heartily tears streaming down her face as she lays her head on Naomi's shoulder.

"What about if you come have a bath with Mummy, we could even put bubbles in it?" Naomi says gently running her fingers through our distressed daughter's hair.

"Have a shower with Mumma" Kelly says calming down a little as she finds a compromise she is happy with. Naomi looks over to me question evident in her eyes. I give her a quick nod.

"Yeah come on baby" I say lifting her out of Naomi's arms and into my own. "Maybe Mummy will order our dinner while we're in the shower." I say. Naomi nods her head as we walk towards the bathroom.

The shower really is an effort Kelly is extremely tried and everything seems more of a challenge than it should be. Eventually though we get it sorted and both make our way into the lounge all clean and wrapped up in our dressing gowns. Naomi smiles as she catches sight of us.

"Dinner's on the table ladies, decided to whip us up some eggs and baked beans rather than ordering takeaways is that ok?" she asks getting up from the couch.

"Sounds pretty good to me" I reply looking forward to the simple but tasty meal.

About half an hour later, after we have all finished eating, we're sitting together on the couch. Kelly's cuddled in between Naomi and me almost asleep as we watch the television quietly.

"Come on Baby its time for bed now" Naomi says gently wrapping her arms around Kelly.

"No Mummy, stay here with you, no bed" Kelly replies assertively despite her evident tiredness.

"If you stay here there will be no bed time story, I'll just put you to bed when you fall asleep" Naomi states.

"No want to sleep with you and Mumma" She moans looking up at Naomi then me with pleading eyes. Naomi looks at me worry evident in her eyes before leaning forward and gently pressing her hand to Kelly's forehead. I watch intently as she leaves it there a moment frowning.

"She's quite warm" Naomi says looking at me "Think she might be coming down with another bug. She's normally overly clingy when she is."

"Aww Kelly" I say rubbing my hand up and down her back. She wriggles out of Naomi's arms and moves into mine tucking herself into my chest and closing her eyes.

"She'll be asleep in no time now" Naomi points out "I think we should just let her sleep there for a bit if you don't mind."

"Course not" I reply already feeling the sounds of her even breathing and slight snore. "I love having her cling to me like I'm one of the most important people in the world." I explain.

"You are Ems" Naomi states seriously "In both our lives" she continues, looking down shyly as she finishes.

I take her hand in mine pulling her towards me until I have my spare arm wrapped around her and she's tucked in close to my side, head leaning on my shoulder. She laughs softly making me feel a little self conscious.

"What ?" I ask nudging her.

"You smell like Kelly's Winne the Pooh shower gel" she articulates giggling through her sentence.

"Shut up" I say nudging her again. "Kelly insisted you would smell exactly the same as me if you'd had a shower with her instead of me."

"Ha no I wouldn't I know all the tricks to talk my way out of that one. Did she insist you brush your teeth with her bubble gum tooth paste too?"

"How did you know?" I ask laughing at the situation. She'd been so insistent that Mumma had to do it too. I couldn't help but agree.

"Aww Ems its ok you know the tricks too, you just choose not to use them. Think you secretly like the taste of her tooth paste and her super cool soap." Naomi replies.

"Well it is pretty yummy tooth paste" I reply making Naomi let out another snort of laughter.

"I knew it, finally some honesty you always try and deny it and tell me it's just because you can't say no." Naomi says a sense of victory evident in her tone.

"Mmm" She said after another minute. "I can see why Kelly loves sleeping on you, your very comfortable Emily Fitch."

We sit in silence for a minute taking in the quite voices on the television and the deep breaths of our sleeping daughter.

"Naoms" I question quietly causing her to crane her head back and look up at me. "When are you due?" I continue.

"I'm not sure exactly, I think I'm about 2 and a half or 3 months along. The last appointment only confirmed the pregnancy I have another one on Wednesday and the doctor should be able to tell me more then." She explains.

"Ok when is it I'd like to come if that's ok with you" I say nervously not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable.

"Course Ems I'd love it if you feel comfortable coming. I think the appointments at 2.30 on Wednesday but we should probably check my appointment card before then."

"How did all this work them I mean did we get someone we know to be a sperm donor or what?" I ask feeling silly. I should know all these things I feel stupid that I have to ask questions like this. I should know a lot of things like how to drive a car, my daughter's favourite things and my wife's favourite things. I felt like I had filled in a few gaps during the couple of weeks since my accident but not enough.

"Well we talked about it and we decided to get the same donor as we did for Kelly. It was a donor from a sperm bank." She explains.

"Ok" I acknowledge taking in all the information and trying to process it as more questions pop up in my head. "Why are you having the baby this time?" I ask wondering why Naomi was pregnant and not me.

"Well we'd always talked about each of us being pregnant. So naturally it was mine turn this time. I kept telling you how beautiful and sexy you looked pregnant and you wanted to see what I'd look like." She explains.

"That makes sense" I agree "What do you reckon it is then Nai? Got any motherly instinct telling you?" I ask smiling widely at her screwed up face.

"All I know right now is that it's giving me nasty nausea throughout the day and making more tired than usual." She replies followed by a long yawn.

"Come on then let's head to bed shall we? Are we going to let sleeping beauty here come too?" I question gesturing down to Kelly in my arms.

"Yeah I reckon" says Naomi getting up slowly looking liked she'd ceased up after the time sitting on the couch. "I want to keep an eye on her if you don't mind."

"Course" I agree getting up careful of the girl in my arms.

Not long later we're all cuddled up in our warm bed. Kelly's positioned in the prime spot lying in the middle of the bed between me and Naomi. We're both lying on our sides facing towards her and each other.

"Heads up Ems you've got about a 50/50 chance of waking up with a foot or bum in your face" Naomi states grin on her face making me question if she's serious. "No jokes, it depends who she chooses to wriggle into while she's sleeping. In the morning she'll be almost sideways and one of us will be lacking room." Naomi explains.

"Anyway I can decrease my odds?" I ask not finding the prospect particularly appealing.

"Yeah possibly" Naomi replies grin fully in place "but that would increase my odds so I'm not sharing it with you."

"Meany" I huff folding my arms in front of me and giving her a nasty look.

"That's not going to help Emily, it just makes me want to tickle you to get rid of that sour look." she retorts leaning up on her elbows as I poke my tongue out at her. She pokes hers back just as child like. We pull faces at each other for a few minutes; they get sillier and sillier until both of us end up in a fit of hysterical laughter.

"Naoms" I question once we've both settled down. She lifts her head, from her current position lying on her back, to look at me. "I feel a bit stupid asking but do you think you could, you know, teach me to, um, teach me to drive?" I ask nervously worried about what her reaction might be. I feel so stupid that I don't know how. It's not the sort of thing you should have to learn when you're 28. Not much I can do about it though. I certainly didn't learn to do it during the time I remember. I'd actually gone and sat in the driver seat of the car during one of Kelly's naps. Thought perhaps if I sat there it would all come back but with success. So it led me to here, shyly asking my wife. I was pleased there were no other basis things I had to ask for her assistance with. I'd learnt to cook, clean and do things like the washing while I was still a kid so could remember the basics of those.

"No problem Ems" Naomi proclaimed somewhat excitedly "this could be lots of fun."

"Why do you say that?" I question seeing the twinkle in her eyes that tell me there is more to it than what she's said.

"Let's just say when I was trying to teach you how to drive my car which is manual compared to your automatic it caused you a lot of frustration. I of course was a great help in elevating said frustration although we almost got done for indecent exposure. To be fair it was on a fairly secluded country road only a few people saw. It helped you get the hang of my car too. When you were racing away from the police man on a push bike you really seemed to get the hang of the clutch." Naomi says wistfully as if remembering the experience.

"Sounds like a bit of an adventure" I say imagining the experience myself, finding myself unable to come up with an image that seemed plausible.

"It always is Ems" Naomi affirms yawning loudly at the end. I look over and see her tired eyes looking back. I lean gently over Kelly planting a soft kiss on her lips and a light one on Kelly's forehead.

"Night Naomi, night Kelly and night baby" I say reaching my hand across Kelly and resting it on Naomi's still small stomach. The tiny life that lay within both scared and excited me in extreme and equal doses. I already had so much to catch up on with the family I already had and soon enough another addition would be along. At least for the moment I was sure this was where I wanted to be, where I should be, where I belonged.

**Well there is another one though I'm aware nothing much happened. Let me know if you're all still enjoying reading about the family and their interactions. Also if you have any suggestions I'm open to almost anything. Either way let me know what you think. :)**


	13. Chapter 13

"Mummy, Mummy" I hear as I'm pulled from my sleep by the sensation of a small finger poking me in the face. I drag myself from a particularly appealing dream to attend to who ever seems to think I need to be awake. I let my eyes adjust for a minute to the semi darkness and realise its Kelly who has pulled me from my blissful dream.

"What's wrong Kell?" I ask tiredness evident in my voice.

"Feel sick Mummy, sore stomach" she moans. I roll over a little concerned, turning on the bedside lamp to get enough light to check her out. As I turn back over to investigate my concern grows. Kelly's looking very draw and pale a thin layer of sweat covering her forehead.

"Baby girl" I say my voice high pitched the emotion evident "I'm just going to get you some water and medicine ok, I'll be back in a minute."

"No Mummy stay, need you to stay here, sick Mummy, sore" she says pointing to her stomach distressed at the thought I might leave her.

"Shhh its ok, I'll stay here" I say kissing her forehead that is much hotter than it should be.

"Ems, Ems hun" I say trying to wake my still sleeping wife. When she's out she's really out. Kelly knows this about her hence the reason she's woken me with her concerns.

"EMS" I say louder gently shaking her shoulder.

"Ha, what," she startles waking suddenly.

"Hey Ems sorry Kelly's not very well she needs some stuff but she won't let me leave. Think you could grab some water, a wet face cloth, some medicine and maybe a bucket for her I think we're going to need it before the nights out." I explain. She blinks a few times trying to wake up properly before looking at me like she's herd nothing of what I've said. She stares blankly for a second before snapping as if everything had suddenly clicked.

"Um yeah sure." She says moving to get up. Looking at Kelly lying limply in my arms, clearly not herself. "Aww Baby" she says kissing her forehead just like I had before leaving the room to gather supplies.

We lay there for a few minutes waiting for Emily to return me trying to make Kelly as comfortable as possible.

"Sick Mummy sick" Kelly says suddenly looking at me with alarm in her eyes before she starts to gag. I sit her up quickly pulling back the cover. I'm just quick enough as she vomits all over the sheets. I know it's not what I should be thinking but I'm pleased it's just the sheets which are easy to change. I'm also glade it's not all over me. Kelly finishes after a minute collapsing into my side.

"I'm sorry Mummy, sick on bed, I'm sorry" she cries looking up at me with big sad eyes. I pull her close being careful not put pressure on her stomach which is obviously already under enough distress.

"It's ok baby it wasn't your fault. It's ok" I sooth feeling relived when she stops crying. She's still whimpering and drawing long shaky breathes when Emily enters a minute later tough.

"Right" she sates taking in the scene on the bed. "Clearly I'm a bit late with these" she continues placing the bucket full of items on the bed.

"Yeah a little, you want to take her into the spare room? We may as well sleep in there for the rest of the night. I'll clean up this mess and be in soon yeah?" I ask thinking it's the best solution right now.

"Yeah sure, Kelly going to come with Mumma now?" she asks holding out her arms ready to remove Kelly from mine.

"No stay with Mummy" Kelly says softly.

"I just need you to go with Mumma for a minute while I clean up baby, I'll be back with you really soon I promise." I explain.

"No stay with Mummy" Kelly states a little more firmly this time shaking her head for emphasis.

"It's ok Nai you go take her into the spare room and I'll clean this up" she says gesturing to the fairly large puddle of vomit on the bed.

"You sure" I ask slowly getting up off the bed Kelly cradled gently in my arms.

"Yeah no problem" she replies kissing mine and Kelly's forehead. I'm just about to leave the room when she stops me with a hand on my arm.

"Probably want this babe" she says hooking the bucket full of things she'd fetched onto a free part of my arm.

"Thanks" I return giving her a small smile before carrying our sick child from the room. It interesting really Kelly has quite a pattern for who she clings to when she's sick. If she gets sick during the day its Emily. Emily helps her sleep she knows she can just curl into her and her Mumma will be there to look after her. At night however I'm her usual nurse. She knows I'm easier to wake and that I always have a way of knowing exactly what she needs. Course she prefers to have both of us looking after her every need.

"Here we go Baby" I say placing Kelly softly on the bed. I place my hand lightly on her sweaty forehead feeling that it's still much warmer than is usual. "I'm just going to put this on your head" I explain lifting a wet facecloth from the bucket Emily had prepared. She sighed as I placed the wet cloth on her head looking up at me with big brown eyes so much like her mothers. I take the rest of the things out of the bucket thinking it might be needed empty.

"Kel baby I need you to take some of this medicine" I say getting some of the children's Panadol and pouring it onto a spoon.

"No Mummy" she says weakly shaking her head.

"Baby it will make you feel better, just this one mouthful for Mummy please baby" I ask soothingly stroking her hair. She nods softly and takes the medicine without fuss as if she has no more energy for protesting. I give her a small drink of water to help wash it down then lay down on the bed with her pulling her softly against me.

When Emily walks in about fifteen minutes later she met with quite a sight. Kelly had thrown up not two minutes after I'd given her the medicine. Unfortunately this time the warming was lacking an instead of being able to direct her to the bucket I'd managed to get it all over my shirt. Kelly's insistence that I stay with her had meant I'd only been able to remove my shirt and let her cuddle back into my bare chest. Momentarily relived of her nausea she had fallen asleep and that's how Emily found us now.

"Has she been sick again?" Emily asks taking in my discarded shirt.

"Yeah I tried to give her some medicine to bring her temperature down unfortunately her stomach had other ideas. Think she might be out for a bit now though." I explain gesturing for Emily to come and join us. She walks over and positions herself so once again Kelly's in between us.

"Threw up on you again" she says gesturing to my shirtless state. "That reminds me of her birthday party. I made her that panda bear cake which she ate half of then threw up all over you when you were trying to teacher her how to ride her new bike. That was classic" she said laughing suddenly realising she'd remembered another fact from our lives together.

"For you maybe I couldn't get the smell of vomit out of my favourite shoes for weeks, you wouldn't stop laughing about it either." I reply trying to sound annoyed only to end up laughing too.

"Now I've got another memory of us. I've only remembered a few things but every one I do makes this feel more real" she says seriously.

"Good" I say smiling "because this is very real see" I say taking her hand and pushing it against my face.

"Yeah I know Naomi and I'm trying I really am" she says somewhat guiltily.

"That's all I ask Ems. Anyway we should probably try and get some more sleep while it's possible, never know when Kels going to wake up again." I explain settling down into the warm covers.

Our weekend was taken up mostly by tending to our sick daughter. She'd been clingy and vomiting until late Sunday night. I'd been given permission to attend work today though I'd been tired all day from our weekend ordeal. Tonight though Kelly was back in her own bed and I think both of us were a little relived.

"This is nice" Emily voices stretching out in the crisp clean sheets of our bed.

"It is indeed" I agree smiling at her. "Now that we've got over the drama that was the last few days I was hoping you'd come on another date with me?"

"Ok not sure how that connects in your brain but I'd really like that" Emily replies looking puzzled for a minute.

"Cool, hoping you'd be keen after the doctor's appointment on Wednesday. We could ask either Mum or Katie to come watch Kelly." I suggest.

"Well with a plan like that how can I disagree, I look forward to it." Emily confirms looking pleased with my desire to take her out.

"I thought we could start off with some driving lessons you can get to know your wee Minnie again." I inform her.

"Sounds fun" she agrees. "I still don't believe I really called my car that" she continues looking somewhat ashamed by the name.

"Well I did tell you that babe. Told you that Minnie wasn't the most original name for a mini cooper, but you insisted. I do believe your line of argument was that she was red, black and white just like Minnie mouse and you just had to name her that. I'm just glad I got a say in naming our child otherwise she might be called Pumpkin, I mean she was a weird orange colour when she was born." I retaliate laughing at my own joke. Emily it seems is not at all amused by the suggestion though.

"Whatever you keep our daughter out of this" she says false anger apparent as she tries not to smile through her words. "Any way didn't you tell me you cars name was Clarence what sort of name is that for a car anyway." She defends.

"Gosh for someone who was the person who suggested they'd called their car a silly name your awfully defensive." I say. "But for the record Clarence is a perfect name for my VW golf."

"Yeah as much as I'd love to continue this fun yet pointless argument I think I'd rather go to sleep." Emily says ending anymore discussion on either of our cars.

"Yeah clean sheet and only two in the bed we're bound to get a good sleep" I reply. "Night" I add placing a soft kiss on her cheek before switching off the beside lamp and wriggling to get comfortable.

"Hey that's not a proper kiss" Emily whines poking me in the back with her finger. "Kelly's not here I want a proper kiss, none of this child friendly crap."

I roll over quickly; give myself a second to locate her lips in the dark before attaching mine firmly. I feel her smile into it so allow myself to continue a little. Emily continues to respond positively to what was meant to be a goodnight kiss but had turned into a heated make out session. I pull her closer letting my tongue venture out off my mouth and make a move towards hers. She seems to like this idea too letting my tongue slip in and play with hers. Our kiss is warm, soft and it tastes like her, like us, like home. I let myself get carried away and before I know it I'm full on groping her breasts.

"Shit sorry" I say pulling away a little embarrassed about my perhaps to forward actions. "I didn't mean to do that it's just, you're beautiful and my body got carried away without consulting my mind, you know. Plus it's been a while since we you know, not that I'm complaining because I love you and our relationships about so much more than that. It's just my body got a little excited you know and now I feel like a bumbling idiot." I rant looking up at the amused smirk on Emily's face.

"It's ok" she says gently brushing my cheek with her thumb. "I actually think a little topless kissing would be nice."

She pulls my top slowly over my head taking in my newly exposed breasts. I let her observe me for a minute before gently removing her shirt too. I don't need to look like she did. I know them better than I know my own. Honestly I'm a bit of a breast lady. I pull her close to me rubbing my nose against hers and enjoying the beautiful sensation of our meeting chests. Her nipples are warm and soft but as they press against my cold hard ones they slowly change state. I lean in and slowly reignite our kiss getting lost in the feeling of Emily. Eventually I find myself palming her breasts and playing with her nipples. One of my favourite activities, it feels a bit like when I was finally able to return to it once Emily stopped being sore from breast feeding. It's amazing and some times I think I get more pleasure out of it that Emily does. That's saying something too considering the vigour in which she kissing me and pushing her chest against my hands.

"Naoms" Emily says voice clouded with lust. "I think we need to stop now, I'm sorry but I'm not quite ready to go any further." She explains.

"You don't have to apologise Ems, whatever your comfortable with is fine by me." I respond accompanied by a soft peck on her nose.

"It's not that I don't want to its just if we did right now I'd feel like I was doing it just because my body wanted sex. I want me to want you, not just sex when it happens. I'm not sure if that makes sense but its how I feel" Emily explains.

"No problem Emily I understand." I explain before we both settle down for a good nights sleep.

"Thanks so much for this Mum" I say hugging her.

"It's no problem darling, I'm always happy to look after my favourite granddaughter, although I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to say that for." She replies smiling at me.

"Yeah well we should be home fairly early definitely before 11. My cell will be on if there is any trouble at all"

"I'm sure she'll be find sweetheart. She's an angel I don't know how you got such a well behaved child. You were a little rat bag when you were her age. Don't hurry home you and Emily have fun and relax, if it gets too late I'll sleep in the guest room no problems" she assures me.

"Ok thanks again mum" I say giving her a hug and leading her into the living room where Emily is talking to Kelly.

"Nana" Kelly beams excitedly running over to greet her with a hug. Emily takes this as a cue to stand up from her position crouched on the floor.

"Hey Mrs Campbell" she greets my mother walking over to us and talking my hand in hers.

"Oh darling we've known each other a long time no need for formalities honestly, Its Gina or Mum." Mum says pulling her into a quick hug. My mother had a way of making anyone feel comfortable. I sometimes feel like she really does care about the whole world. Sometimes while growing up it felt like she cared more about the rest of the world than she did me. Now of course I knew differently. She adores Kelly, Emily and I and there was no questioning we are the most important people in her life.

"Sorry Gina you told me that in the supermarket too. I'll try and remember." Emily says smiling widely at my mother.

"That's all I ask dear. Anyway you two ladies best be on your way, Kelly you going to say goodbye to your parents?" Mum asks.

We both crouch down as Kelly moves towards us. We are each rewarded with a tight hug and a sloppy kiss.

"Bye Mummy, bye Mumma" she says before tugging on my mother's arm eager to show her something.

"Good luck with the appointment" Mum adds as she's pulled from the room by an overly excited Kelly.

"Emily, Naomi so lovely to see you both again, please come in, take a seat." Dr Graham greets us warmly.

We make our way into her office and each take a seat on the chairs provided. Emily takes my hand in hers smiling nervously at me before turning her attention to the doctor.

"How is that little angel of yours anyway what is she 2 now?" She asks looking at me and Emily with a warm friendly smile.

"She's good" I answer "She's two and a half now and I swear she'll be smarter than me in no time" I joke earning a laugh from both Emily and Dr Graham.

"That's great to hear you'll have to bring he in sometime it's always a pleasure to see the children I delivery growing up. Anyway on with why you're here, Naomi would you like to change into this robe and meet me in the exam room? I trust you remember where it is." She says handing me one of the papery green hospital robes.

About ten minutes later we're all gathered in the small room. I've got that awful cold goo on my stomach and Dr Graham's running the ultra sound across it. Emily's hand is firmly encased in mine as we watch the screen intently eager for the first sight of our unborn child.

"There we go" Dr Graham exclaims excitedly a picture of a baby shaped splodge comes into view.

"Wow" Emily says squeezing my hand and leaning in to look closer. I smile at her amazement honestly I'm pretty amazed myself.

"It's all looking really good guys. Healthy and exactly as it should for a 3 month old foetus" she says.

"Good, that's good" I say still looking intently at the screen.

Two hours later Emily and I are in fits of giggles as she sits in the driver's seat of Minnie. We've been talking about the scan ever since it happened and been throwing around names and possible futures for the tiny being growing inside me. Emily's also been practising her driving, quite successfully, on this quite country lane. We're currently pulled off the road of said lane in hysterical laughter at the memory Emily's suddenly regained.

"Shut up" she says through her laughter "It was fucking embarrassing I mean your mum walking in on you orally pleasuring me." she says through her laughter. "Shit how was I just causally talking to her this afternoon?" her voice clearly distressed by the matter.

"It wasn't that bad Ems, didn't change her opinion of you at all" I try and explain through my still present laughter.

"You would say that, if memory serves correct you were still fully clothed."

"Get over it hun it was like 10 years ago. I'm sure she's forgotten it. I on the other hand haven't that was one amazing afternoon and evening." I say getting a smile to break out on her faux serious face. She then bursts into another fit of giggles, apparently mine are infectious.

"Yeah alright" she responses playfully, slapping my thigh before turning away from me and back to the wheel.

"Besides" I say just as she goes to pull out onto the road. "There's heaps far more memorable times she interrupted us. I mean there was our first Christmas home from University when you had me chained to the bed and blindfolded with a Santa hat." I continue.

"No you're making that up" she says stopping her task of pulling out and cracking into more embarrassed laughter.

"I wish I was. I mean we thought she'd gone out for the afternoon or we'd never have done it. Then bam she's knocking on the door asking if we want Christmas mince pies."

"Gosh" Emily says laughter still bubbling forth from her.

I join her and we continue to laugh at our teenage escapades.

"You make it sound like we're sex loonies" Emily says once she's caught her breath.

"Aw we were babe, still are, now we just don't get caught, having our own house and all." I reply sending her a wink. She looks back at me a look of her face that's somewhere between shock and arousal. Whatever the look means all I know is tonight will be a good one. Babies and Laughter is always the start of something good, as is being with Emily.

**So there we go another one. Hope you enjoyed it. Had a request for the end the video Emily was watching, I'm sure you know which one. So I think we need to take a vote on it we've got a few options. Emily watches the rest, Emily and Naomi watch the rest together or the rest of the video is left up to your imagination. Let me know what you'd prefer and I'll see what I can do. Thanks so much for all the reviews and alerts as usual. They really are the only thing that keeps me writing this. Until next time. **


	14. Chapter 14

"You girls are home early" Gina proclaims as we make our way into the lounge. I look down at my watch noting that it's only 8.30pm. It seemed liked we'd been out for ages, to be fair we had, we'd left for the doctors appointment at around 1.30pm.

"Yeah well we went to my appointment, did some driving and had dinner. We had considered seeing a movie but they all looked like utter crap so we hired a DVD to watch here." Naomi filled her mother in.

"Ok, you two always did say you like your comfortable couch and large television better than the movies. I personally always thought it was more the fact that no one would judge you for making out like teenagers." Gina says smirking at both of us.

"Whatever mother" Naomi groans. "How was Kelly anyway, no problems I trust."

"No course not, she didn't eat much dinner but she said she wasn't hungry, even turned down dessert. I figured she'd be ok though. Your daughter's quite good at knowing what she wants and needs." Gina explains.

"Yeah, think she's still off her food a bit after the stomach bug she had in the weekend." Naomi explains. I see a smile stretch over Gina's face at the statement.

"Actually we did some lovely artwork about that. There's a charming picture on the fridge of mummy and mumma's bed covered in vomit and one of mummy cover in vomit. Gosh Naomi you really do have the worst luck when it comes to Kelly and a sick stomach." Gina says an amused look on her face.

"Oh I know mother, I'm so glade everyone else finds it so amusing." She says giving me a stern look. I don't respond to it in the way she wants, instead my smile grows wider. "No worries though I'm sure I can repay the favour. This babies giving me a bit of trouble lately I can show Kelly what it feels like when someone's sick all over you." Naomi says a very serious look on her face.

"Naomi Campbell" I say voice harsh appalled at the fact she had even suggested the idea. "If you throw up on my daughter then I'll, I'll" I pause trying to come up with a valid threat. "I'll tell them not to give you any drugs during labour." I finally finish hand on hip and a look of triumph on my face. Gina stands by looking fairly bemused by the interaction.

"A." Naomi states moving her hand to her own hip." I plan to have a natural birth anyway and B. That's a bit hypocritical coming from you isn't it?"

"What do you mean?" I ask a little confused by her comment.

"Well at least if I do throw up anywhere near our daughter it won't have anything to do with drinking too much tequila." She states looking at me with victory.

"No you don't mean I…" I ask of course having no recollection of the incident she's referring too.

"Don't mean to interrupt this incredibly important discussion ladies but I think I'll head off now." Gina cuts in causing us both to stop for a minute.

"Course thanks so much Mum" Naomi voices giving her a hug.

"Yeah thanks Gina" I say following suit and giving her a somewhat awkward hug.

"Anytime girls, it's always a pleasure" she says walking towards the front door with a wave over her shoulder. I turn back to Naomi and look at her expectantly.

"Right that story. So everyone went out drinking for Panada's birthday. I was meant to go too but Kelly got sick last minute so I stayed with her. Anyway next morning she came into our room looking pretty ill and then threw up on the floor. You and your tequila stomach couldn't cope with it. You went to run for the toilet but didn't get there, ended up vomiting all over Kelly. Think it's the reason she doesn't trust you if she's going to be sick, she thinks if she has an accident you're going to pay her back." Naomi fills in with a smirk.

"No that's not true, I wouldn't do that, tell me it's not true." I say concerned. Surely she's making it up. I can't imagine doing anything like that even without meaning to. I look to Naomi trying to get a read on her. I can't read her though her face is blank.

"Naomi" I say annoyance obvious in my tone.

"Emily" She returns in the same moaning voice I'd used. Her face breaks into a cheeky smile. "Just kidding" She says running away. She's good I have to give her that she really had me worried there for a minute. She also seemed to know exactly how I was going to react to her tricks. She had run off into the house away from my hands that planned to hit and tickle her.

"Hey" I yell running in the direction she had only seconds before. I hear giggling coming from the washhouse and walk in to find Naomi in a fit of giggles on the floor. She looks up at me laughter stopping immediately as she sees my angry face.

"Yeah you best stop that." I say "how could you do that. I mean playing with the memories of someone who doesn't know if your joking or not." I say.

"I'm sorry Emily it was a joke, the baby made me do it" she returns trying to put an innocent look on her face.

"The baby made me do it, you going to use that excuse for the next 6 months" I ask the look on her face softening me a bit. Yes it was annoying that she made up that story. It did worry me for a minute but she just meant it as a joke.

"You did for the nine months you were pregnant with Kelly" she fires back at me. I look at her sceptically for a moment considering her claim.

"Look I'm sorry Em's you don't have to get twelve of the little people in your brain to form a jury for my every comment. I'm telling the truth it was a joke before I'd never let you believe it for long." She pleas actually moving onto her knees.

"Yeah that one does actually sound like me" I agree. "Doesn't mean your off on that other thing though" I continue lunging towards her and showering her with soft hits and insistent tickles. She laughs and squirms beneath me.

"I'm sorry, the baby's sorry, please, please stop." She says through laughter and attempts to breath "Seriously Ems I'm about to piss myself here" she cries in one last plea.

I consider continuing but having Naomi pee on me really might ruin the evening. I move off of her and she gets up quickly making her way to the loo.

A few minutes later she walks back into the lounge.

"Here" she says throwing a wrapped box into my lap as she sits down and shuffles to face me.

"What's this" I ask gesturing to the wrapped box in my lap.

"It's a present for you; I told you at the hospital I'd woo you. I'm not sure I'm doing a very good job so I figured a present here and there never hurts. You seemed to like the last one." She says almost shyly.

I open the paper carefully to reveal a boxed bottle of very expensive looking perfume.

"Wow thanks Naomi" I say.

"It's your favourite. We got a couple of big bottles at duty free on one of our overseas flights. You ran out a couple of months ago but refused to buy it at its full cost. I decided that you deserved a new bottle. Plus I absolutely love it on you, it perfectly blends with your smell, it's like it was made for you." Naomi tells me honestly.

"Thanks, that's kind of creepy in a really nice way" I say the opening box and taking the bottle out, eager for a smell. I spray a small amount on the inside of my wrist, leaving it for a second to dry before inhaling the scent. I could detect beautiful flowery and fruity scents mingling with something I couldn't place.

_Suddenly I was thinking about preparing for a night out with Naomi. I remember spraying on a large quantity of this perfume that I knew drove her wild before meeting her downstairs in our small flat. She's taken me out to a wonderful dinner show that had managed to be both a touching story and a witty comedy. Naomi had been touching me all night I could tell the perfume was driving her crazy it always did. We left the dinner show and arrived home. A quick make out session at the door and we decide to move into the lounge and watch a movie. I sit down on the couch and feel something dig into my bottom. I stand up noticing nothing on the seat so feel my back pockets for an offending item. That's odd I'm sure there was nothing in them before, I couldn't feel anything on the car ride home. I look at Naomi _

_She's busy on her knees in front of the television getting our movie sorted. I put my hand in and pull out a small box. _

"_Naoms what's this?" I ask holing up the emerald green box. _

"_Only way to find out is if you open it hun" she says shuffling over to me still on her knees, presumably as interested in the boxes content as I was. I open it slowly and inside are two very beautiful diamond rings. I look down at Naomi kneeling in front of me as I sit on the couch. _

"_Emily Fitch, I could tell you how much I love you, that you are the most precious and important thing in my life, but you've heard all that before. What you haven't heard is that I want to marry you, have children with you and grow all old and wrinkly with you. Ems your it baby, ain't no one else but you in my head constantly, I was hoping you'd make it permanent and be my wife?" _

"_Yes" I declare pulling Naomi into a tight hug. I feel her bury her head into my neck and inhale the sweet perfume I'd applied earlier. She nuzzles into the smell licking and kissing at my neck where it sits. _

"_This smell will always remind me off this night" she says. "I've always loved it but I swear you smell even better tonight. It's delicious; other people have thought so too. Every time I saw one of them staring at you after they caught a sniff of that scent it's given me more incentive. I can't ever let anyone else have you, I need to show the world we belong to each other. Having a girlfriend isn't enough, you need a ring baby, a visible sign to help ward of the hordes of men and women." She explains all into my neck. "Beyonce got it right when she said if you like it then you better put a ring on it."_

"_Little bit possessive there Naomi" I say into her neck enjoying her soft skin against my nose. _

"_Nah hun I only want you if you want me too. I want all the happiness in the world for you babe, I just really hope I'm the one who can give it to you." _

"_Well you're in luck there Naoms because as a matter of fact you are." I say pulling back and giving her a warm kiss on the lips. "Now about these beautiful rings which ones mine" I ask looking down at the shiny jewellery before me. _

"_Which ever one you want Ems" she says. _

_I look down at them, they're both beautiful and both very similar. There are a few subtle differences though; one has square shaped diamond as the main stone while the other has a circle. Despite this and a few other technicalities they look like a pair and when people see Naomi and me together they'll know we match. I point to the one with the circle diamond indicating to Naomi that's the one I want. She smiles widely at me taking it from the box. Before she puts it on my finger she holds it up for me to see. On the inside of the band written in small practised script reads "Ems I know you too well". I laugh at the inscription, smiling as she pushes the ring onto my finger before placing a soft kiss on top of it. I take the other ring out and place it on her finger. I then grasp her hand smiling as I look down at our ringed fingers held together. We snuggle down into the couch and instead of watching a movie talk and joke about both realistic and utterly ridiculous wedding ideas._

I'm pulled back from my sudden onslaught of memory my Naomi's warm arms wrapping around me.

"Ems what's wrong do you not like it, I'm sorry we can throw it away its fine." She says confusing me for a minute. I then realise I'd been zoned out for a minute thinking about our engagement and was crying.

"No it not you, it's just the smell it triggered a memory. Our engagement." I explain. I'm not even sure why I'm crying. Am I happy I remembered or sad I can't remember more?

"Aww that's good Ems, I can't say it was the most romantic proposal ever but it worked for us" she says pulling me close to her and letting me cry onto her shoulder.

"It was perfect" I return voice cracking with emotion and my tears becoming a heavy stream down my face. Naomi rubs my back and attempts to sooth me.

"Shh" she coos gently in me ear.

"I'm sorry I don't know why I'm crying like this, it's just I remembered our engagement and I was happy. Now I feel sad about all the stuff I can't remember, it's not fair" I sob feeling like an emotional mess. "And now I'm getting your shirt all wet and snotty and all you've been is amazing. Now I'm ruining our nice night."

"Hey Ems you're allowed to feel confused and frustrated at this situation it's totally understandable. You haven't ruined anything I'm here with you and that's just how I want it. You can get my top as wet and snotty as you want, won't change a thing I'll still be right here to help you through." She assures me. "You cry all you need even if you don't know why you're doing it."

"How are you so perfect all the time?" I ask in awe of her patience and willingness to bear with me.

"I'm not Emily, but that's a memory discovery for another time. I think we've had enough action for one day yeah" she asks looking at my tear stained face. I nod laying it back on her chest letting her sooth me with her touch.

"Can we just stay like this for a bit" I ask letting out a contented sigh.

"Yeah we can for a bit" she agrees kissing my forehead and relaxing both of us back into the couch.

**So there's the latest chapter hope you enjoyed. Thanks fro all the feedback and the most popular vote will definitely be in this story as you may have seen it's just not in this one. Any feedback or suggestions positive or negative is always appreciated and really helps the motivation for writing. Thanks :).**


	15. Chapter 15

I walk into the bedroom from the bathroom slipping my earrings through my ears as I go. The sight that greets me is one of Kelly sitting on the bed trying to rouse a sleeping Emily.

"Kelly I told you not to wake Mumma" I say a slightly annoyed tone to my voice.

"But I love her" Kelly states in defence. I go to open my mouth but what do I say to that. It actually melts my heart a little.

Kelly's thorough job at waking her mother seems to have worked as Emily slowly emerges from her slumber.

"Ha what time is it?" she queries blurry eyes taking in the large amount of light creeping in from behind the curtains. I can tell she's confused the two of us are usually awake a good half and hour before Kelly. We take the time to chat and relax together. Last night though had been long and emotional for Emily so I'd tried to let her sleep for as long as possible. Kelly of course had other plans.

"It's 9.30 I did try and stop Kelly waking you, you look like you could use a little more sleep." I explain looking at her sympathetically.

"Wow, no it's fine, it's late anyway, thanks for letting me have that extra couple of hours." She replied through a yawn.

"Yeah no problem, I have to head to work now anyway so I guess its good your up. How are you feeling this morning anyway?' I ask looking at her. She goes to answer but gets a little distracted as Kelly burrows her way under the covers with her. I smile at her as she lets her cuddle in properly before turning her attention back to me.

"Yeah I'm ok" She replies "How can I not be when I've got the cutest kid ever giving me a hug?" she states causing Kelly to giggle and smile widely at her.

"Good" I reply grabbing my cell phone off the beside table and giving both Kelly and Emily a quick kiss. "See you later guys have a great day."

"Bye" they both say in unison looking very comfortable in bed as I make my way out the house.

My days been pretty intense so far and it's only lunch time. I lean back in my office chair looking at the work I need to complete before going home and realise I'm going to be here late. I pick up my phone dialling in Emily's speed dial. I listen as the phone rings out and goes to her voice mail. I hang up noting how weird it is that she didn't answer but figure I'll try again at the end of my lunch.

Just as I finishing my chicken and avocado salad my phone rings. I smile recognizing Emily's ring tone and picking up quickly.

"Hey Ems" I say happily as I answer.

"Hey Naomi, sorry I missed your call" she answers sounding slightly off. Most people wouldn't pick up on it but I know almost everyone of her tones even over the phone.

"You alright Ems?" I query worried about her.

"Um yeah do you happen to know Holly Tunard?" she asks sounding a little unsure.

"What's she said this time?" I reply knowing exactly how that woman can be.

"Uh Kelly and I went to music group and she was trying to convince me that the two of us were having an affair" she explains her hesitation to explain evident in her meek tone.

"Ems don't listen a word that bitch says. Seriously she's been out to bag you ever since she found out I'm a better known environmental scientist that her husband. She's jealous and now she wants to upset me in someway. It's ridiculous she's not even gay just unhappy in her marriage and she wants to upset me. It's pathetic really especially since her husband is one of the nicest people you'll ever meet." I reply passion in my voice. I wouldn't say I hate the women because I don't like to use that word. I greatly dislike her though and the way she effects my life.

"So I'm not having an affair with her?" Emily asks cautiously. I let out a loud laugh at her question. "What you think it's funny that I've possibly been cheating on you with an older woman."

"No I think it's hilarious that you would even consider that you might be. You couldn't even do it when I gave you permission and you couldn't remember what we are to each other. Do you really think it's possible that you have before? She's been after you for age's hun and your memory loss presented as the perfect opportunity to manipulate you into something you most definitely wouldn't do. Plus you saw the women really I'm not up myself but that's a total downgrade babe." I explain getting a hearty laugh from Emily.

"Yeah I guess your right" Emily agrees laughter still bubbling down the phone at me.

"Yeah as always" I joke. "Anyway the reason I called was that I've got an Everest of work here that I need to get done so I'm probably going to be home late." I explain.

"Yeah ok I understand" She says sounding slightly disappointed. "I'll have dinner for you when you get home. Do you know when that will be?" she finishes.

"Thanks Ems, I'll be home by seven I promise." I say.

"Ok I'll let you get back to conquering that mountain, see you later."

"Yeah bye Ems, see you tonight."

I walk into the house and note the quite and being slightly concerned. Despite being incredibly hungry not having had anything since my salad at lunch, I decide to find my girls first. I start by walking up to mine and Emily's room planning to change into something more comfortable before starting my search. I walk in hoping to find a warm pair of track pants and a baggy t-shirt but instead I find a distraught Emily crying softly into her pillow.

"Ems what's wrong?" I questions going over and kneeling by the bed next to her. She sniffles looking at me through red cheeks and bloodshot eyes. I reach out pushing her hair back from her face and placing a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"Kelly" she gets out through a shuddering sob making my stomach churn. What could have happened to Kelly to get Emily into this distraught state. "Kelly she's been really grumpy all afternoon. She wouldn't eat her dinner and she, she told me she hates me." Emily finishes tears running slowly down her cheeks. My heart stops thudding in my chest relived that Kelly is in fact ok despite her unusual behaviour.

"Hun" I say trying to comfort her by placing another soft kiss on her cheek. "She's two I know you don't remember but she's told you she hates you before and statistics indicate it's likely to happen again. She doesn't mean it, really you're her favourite person in the whole wide world. I understand how you feel though. The first time she told us she hated us we were trying to put he to bed. We both cried for about an hour." I assure.

"I'm sorry, I'm being pathetic. You're the pregnant one and yet I'm the emotional wreck who keeps crying at the drop of a hat." She apologises her voice raw with emotion.

"Hey you don't need to apologise you've been through a lot lately it's understandable your emotions would be all over the place. If that's not a good enough excuse we can call it sympathy symptoms." I joke getting a small smile to grace her lips. I realise that I haven't seen Kelly yet and there must be something troubling her for her to act that way towards Emily.

"Hey Ems, where is Kelly?" I ask wanting to find her and make sure she's ok too.

"She's in her room playing" Emily manages to communicate before a fresh lot of tears present themselves.

"Hun" I say wiping them away "I'm just going to go see Kelly for a bit ok. I love you and I don't want you to be sad but there's got to be something going on with her too. I'll be back soon, will you be ok?" I ask reluctant to leave her but also intent on finding Kelly.

"Yeah" she replies nodding slowly and taking deep breaths trying to calm herself down.

As I walk into Kelly's room I'm greeted with a similar image to that going on in mine and Emily's. Kelly's lying on her bed crying cuddling her teddy tightly. It's times like this that Emily and Kelly look even more alike than usual. I walk quickly over scooping her up in my arms letting her cuddle into me.

"Shhh" I comfort feeling her wet tears and snotty nose finding there way all over my neck. I'm not worried about that right now. I just want to figure out what's going on between Emily and Kelly.

"What's happened sweetie?" I ask noticing that her tears have slowed. She sniffs and takes a second to compose herself.

"Mumma doesn't love us anymore" she says her tone as devastated as her mothers had been only moments ago.

"That's not true baby girl why do you think that?" I ask my brain reeling with where she could have come up with that. This morning when I left the two of them had looked perfect. Somehow in the time I had been at work something had gone terrible wrong.

"Mumma kissed someone else, that means she doesn't love us" she explains. What was she talking about? I know I gave Emily a free rein for a while but I thought we were past that. I also thought she understood that Kelly wasn't to know about it.

"What do you mean? Who did she kiss?" I ask hugely confused. Kelly didn't lie so I knew she either saw Emily kiss someone or at least thought she did. I needed more information though to understand the full story.

"Mumma kissed Tommy's mum Holly" she explains causing the pieces to fit neatly into the puzzle inside my head.

"Hunny I think we need to talk to Mumma about what happened with that. Just because she kissed someone doesn't mean she doesn't love me. Also no matter what happens she will always love you. You're the most important person in her whole world. She loves you always no exceptions." I explain trying to get it through to Kelly that she was wrong.

"But, but I told her I hate her" she sobs wiping her nose on my jacket.

"Yeah I know baby girl Mumma's a bit sad about that because she loves you more than anything. She thinks you really do hate her." I reply trying to hammer in the fact that Emily loves her by being a broken record.

"I don't hate Mumma, I love her, but she kissed someone else and she yelled at me" Kelly replies.

"What did she yell at you baby girl?" I ask finding it surprising. Emily and I try and talk calmly and rationally with Kelly about all things. We don't believe in aggressive discipline and we definitely don't agree with hitting her. Then again Emily doesn't remember that right now.

"She said 'well I love you' when I told he I hated her" Kelly informs me. I can't help but smile at this.

"Baby if she yelled that she loves you how can you think she doesn't?" I asked a little confused at her logic.

"I don't know" she says pulling her head from my shoulder and looking at me for the first time since I entered her room.

"Ok well how about we go see Mumma and have a talk with her about it?" I suggest hoping it will resolve it's self easily.

"But I got snot all over you good work jacket" she says sounding worried about the fact.

"Doesn't matter Kell is will wash out. You going to come see Mumma?" I ask again.

"Yeah" Kelly nods.

"Hey" Emily says as the two of us enter.

"Hey Ems, Kelly has something she wants to ask you." I say taking in her slightly more composed form.

"Sure what is it baby girl" she asks as Kelly and I sit down on the bed.

"You Kiss Tommy Mum?" she says looking at Emily like it's the most important thing in the world. Emily looks up as she does a horrified look crosses over her face.

"You saw that, if I had of known you'd seen then I would have talked to you about it baby girl. I didn't kiss her she kissed me. Do you remember where my hands where when she was kissing me?" she asks obviously trying to prove her innocence to Kelly and perhaps even to me. She had looked for my reaction when Kelly voiced her question.

"Yeah they where here" Kelly says putting her two hands flat in the middle of my stomach.

"Yeah that's right see I didn't want to kiss her I was trying to push her away. Now watch I'll show you what it looks like when I kiss someone. Can I borrow mummy for a minute" She inquires.

"Yeah" Kelly says climbing off my lap. Emily leans in holding my face gently and places a warms soft kiss on my lips. She then pulls away and looks to our daughter.

"Understand baby I didn't kiss her and I didn't want her kissing me" she explains simply.

"Yeah, so you still love us?" Kelly asks looking hopefully up at Emily.

"Of course I do no one in this whole wide world can every stop me loving you." Emily replied passionately.

"I love you too Mumma" Kelly says moving to wriggle her way into Emily's arms. "I'm sorry I sayed I hated you, I didn't mean it" she continues planting the best kind of sloppy kiss on Emily's forehead.

"No problem" she says gesturing me to lie down with them. We lay there for a while Kelly cuddled tight in-between us. All of us are enjoying a silent cuddled to reconnect after today when my stomach lets out a loud noise. It causes all of us to laugh.

"There's some dinner on a plate in the microwave for you Nai" Emily informs.

"Thanks Ems I forgot how hungry I was but I think I might take you up on that offer now." I reply getting up and going to my wardrobe to change my clothes quickly before heading downstairs.

"Mumma I hungry too" Kelly adds a slight moan to her tone.

"Your dinner's downstairs too baby I put it in the fridge because I figured you'd be hungry later." Emily replies.

"Thanks Mumma I love you" Kelly states and I see a wide grin stretch across Emily's face. I can't help but smile as well. Having fights is part of family life but things always seem much better when they're over.

A couple of hours later Emily and I are sitting in bed reading. She looks up from her book and over at me indicating she might want to say something. I mark my place with a bookmark before closing the book and depositing it in my lap.

"Sorry about all the drama today Naomi, it's just hard you know not knowing who you are and all." She says. I take her hand in mine giving it a squeeze.

"It's fine Ems family can be turbulent at times it's a fact of life. As far as knowing yourself goes I'm sure you do know yourself you just don't have memories of it. We could play a game if you like. I'll tell you a memory it will either be real or fictional and you have to tell me which. I bet you'll get them no problem." I purpose hoping she'll go for it so I can help prove my point.

"Ok might be fun" she replied shuffling down the bed so she's laying flat on her back. I do the same wriggling to get comfortable before sharing the first memory.

"Right" I say trawling my brain for an actual memory to start. "During your pregnancy you went through a stage of craving Pringles and that's the only thing you'd eat." I say looking at Emily to see what her answer will be.

"True" she says definitely.

"Yeah it was so funny you'd eat blue for breakfast, green for lunch and red for dinner. Right one time during a movie you stood up and started pointing out all the ways, in which women's rights were being violated, got you kicked out the theatre."

"Ha that's not something I would do, it does on the other hand sound a little like you." She replies laughing.

"Yeah your right on both counts, you never did forgive me for getting you kicked out. Umm one time in college we handed in exactly the same assignment because we didn't have time to write one each due to certain activities. Despite this we both got an A." I present.

"No that's not true I'd rather not hand it in or hand it in late than cheat like that." Emily returns.

"Yeah your right I did try and offer you one of my assignments since we had different teachers but you chose not to take it." I explain.

We continue playing for another half an hour laughing at some of the totally bizarre things I come up with some true some utter bullshit. The one thing in common is that Emily correctly differentiates between the two every time. It's nice every time she gets another one right her smile grows a little brighter and she has a little more of a picture of her life. I can also tell being able to pick out things she done gives her a little more confidence in herself. Despite the long messy day it's ending well and what more can I ask for. I hope tomorrow brings more of the same well the good bits anyway, though I would take the bad. I imagine what it might bring as I roll over trying to find the perfect sleeping position to rest my body for another day.

**Thanks for reading guys as always reviews are welcomed and even encouraged. Thanks for all the feed back, you'll definitely be seeing most of what you want to see it just takes time to get to the right place to do it. Hope you enjoyed this one. :)**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey guys hope you enjoy this one. As always feedback is greatly appreciated. Love to hear what you think of this one. **

I look up from the photo album as I hear footsteps coming towards the lounge. I didn't even notice the sound of the front door too engrossed in the pictures in front of me. It has become somewhat of a habit of mine. Spending the early afternoon hours looking at photo's of my life. I keep hoping that maybe one of them will spark a memory. They haven't just given me beautiful glimpses into moments I feel I should know. Though I don't remember the occasions in the pictures this life is beginning to feel more like my own.

"Hey" Naomi says pulling me from my thoughts. I look up at her smiling as my eyes land on her now obviously pregnant belly. It's been a month since she returned home to find both Kelly and I in tears. Since then she's tried to show me I know myself despite my doubts. Everyday I feel like I find out one more thing about her that makes her seem that little bit more amazing. It's entirely safe to say that I'm falling in love with her, though a weird concept to grasp with all its complicated intricacies.

"Hey you look tired babe" I reply looking at the dark circles under her eyes.

"Mmm" She replies sitting down next to me leaning against my side. I pull her close kissing her forehead.

"My poor baby" I fuss running my hand across her tense shoulders.

"Mmmm" she replies again her tone slightly different telling me she's enjoying my hands on her back.

"Turn round hun I'll give you a massage." I say feeling her move slowly in response. She's been having a pretty rough time of it lately. Her sleep has been little due to the pregnancy and terrible morning sickness plaguing most of her days. The doctor had given her some sleeping pills and explained that the sickness should pass in the next month or so.

I press my fingers firmly into the tight knots I feel in her neck and shoulders, hearing her groan in appreciation of my work. We sit silently for a bit both enjoying the peace of the moment.

"That's amazing Ems my backs been killing me all day and I'm only 4 months I dread to think about how much worse it's going to get" she states.

I kiss her gently on the back of the next and continue my work.

"Where's Kelly?" she says suddenly tensing as if she's suddenly noticed she's missing.

"She's at my mums remember? I went into work for a meeting today, mum took her for that. Mum had some plans to take her to a bird park or something so I'm not picking her up till five." I explain feeling Naomi relax again at the information.

"Course, how was it at work?" she asks through a large yawn.

"Good" I reply stopping the movements of my hands and wrapping them round her waist so she leans back into me. "I'm starting back one day a week for the next month just to get reacquainted with the job."

"That's great babe, I'm pleased for you."

"Yeah I'm looking forward to it." I acknowledge.

"Yeah, I just remembered Mum invited us over for dinner tonight, did you want to go I need to let her know." she informs looking at me with her head craned back so she's upside down.

"Up to you Nai, do you think you're up to it you look pretty tired." I say as she lets out another yawn.

"May as well saves either of us cooking" she replies getting out her phone. "I'll just text her now and let her know."

"Ok and then why don't you go up and have a nap you look like you could use one" I suggest as she sends off the text message.

"I'd rather go to sleep right here" she replies taking my hands in hers and running her thumbs over the backs. She then links our fingers together and shuffles so her head is resting on my lap. She rests both of our hands back on her belly before closing her eyes with a satisfied sigh.

"Sure no problem take a sleep on me I've got nothing better to do" I voice jokingly.

"Shhh" she sounds taking a deep breath like she normally does before drifting off. She grasps my hand looser moving her thumb to absently twist my engagement ring. She takes a few more deep breaths before sitting up suddenly looking at me and down at my hand.

"You're wearing your ring" she says looking down at it smile pulling up the edges of her mouth.

"Yes I am" I affirm finding her almost asleep look adorable.

"When did you put that on, I would almost bet on the fact that when I left for work this morning it was still safely around you neck with your wedding ring." She says gesturing to the ring still in place around my neck.

"It was" I confirm knowing she's hunting for an explanation but not willing to give her one till she asks for it directly.

"I'm going to assume this is a good thing unless you decided to reuse that ring to get engaged to someone else." She replies still searching for answers. I laugh in response.

"I think it is safe to say it is a good thing and that I'm not engaged to someone else." I answer knowing the next thing that's going to come out her mouth.

"Why Ems not that I don't like it cause of course I do but what's changed since yesterday or last week." she inquires looking right at me. She has this way of looking at me that makes me feel like she can read my mind. Sometimes it seems like she can. One or twice I feel like I've had a small glimpse inside of her mind too. I hope that as I grow back into this life even further it happens more often. Being able to gain understanding of exactly what the other is feeling from just a look would be quite convenient.

"I'm not sure exactly. I mean I had that memory of the night we got engaged so that part of it feels real to me. Then I was looking through photos of our engagement party. I looked at myself in them and thought I felt as happy as the girl in the picture looked. Plus it's beautiful and fits my hand perfectly. Its rude to wear it round my neck when it belongs on my finger." I explain knowing I've done a crap job getting across how I feel. My reason sounded really lame. In actual fact it was a gesture to show Naomi we were climbing the steps back to normalcy, well normal for us anyway. When I opened my mouth to say that it came out as a jumble of silly words that had nowhere near the meaning they did in my head. The way she was looking at me now though told me she knew exactly what I had tried to articulate. She was looking at me with teary eyes. Something she'd probably try and pass off as pregnancy hormones but I knew she was really a big softy for me and Kelly. She leans forward and kisses me softly then cuddles tightly into my neck much like Kelly.

"It almost like we're engaged all over again" she says quietly her breath leaving a warm moist patch where she's leaning.

"Yeah it is" I acknowledge, feeling pretty happy about the step.

"It's nice I love you and this is good" she replies.

"It is Naoms, it's really good. Now come on lets get you to bed for that rest before we have to pick up Kelly and go to dinner." I say gently moving her so I can attempt to get up.

"Want to stay here with you" she shoots back sounding just like our daughter in a clingy mood.

"I'll stay with you upstairs babe, more room and it's more comfortable, come on" I encourage helping her to her feet and being her shoulder to lean on as we make our way upstairs.

As she settles down into the blankets and me she lets out another large yawn before her breaths even out and I know she's asleep.

"Love you Ems" she mumbles in her sleep.

"Love you too Nai" I say quietly. It feels good to say, right as if my mouth was use to forming those words. Yet this was the first time I'd said them, well since the memory loss anyway.

"I love you" I try a little louder knowing she's so deep in sleep now that she's not going to hear me. I feel like I need to practice the words. I really want to say them to her. She makes sure Kelly and I hear them at least once a day. Saying it now I realise that I mean it. Despite almost of all of our history together being unreal to me, she's done exactly what she said she would. She's put herself before me and given me no option but to love what I see. The knowledge makes me smile. I think in another situation I might be afraid of the gigantic emotions that I have just realised I feel. Now though I have nothing to be afraid of. I don't have to worry about if she feels the same, if it will last or the awkwardness of telling someone and receiving silence as a response. The concept excited me greatly, the possibilities also. I've been holing myself back from Naomi physically wanting to feel that connection before anything else happens. Now I felt this overwhelming urge to have all of her. I mean we we've been kissing and cuddling and the likes. But now I feel like I'm ready for more. I've wanted more for a long time but now I feel like I can give it to her.

It's been a challenge not just giving into my bodies urges. Last week there had been an awkward moment when I'd walked in on Naomi sorting herself out. I'd stood there staring for a moment as her body moved under the blankets of our bed, I could hear the wet sound of her fingers moving and she'd bit her lip and moaned my name. I knew I should leave so as to not get caught watching but I couldn't. At one stage I must have moved a little and Naomi had opened her eyes startled at being caught in the position. We'd both apologised. She for thinking I was still out with Katie and Kelly, explaining that her hormones had gotten the better of her. I for standing there like a pervert. We'd laughed it off but I'd recalled the event later in the shower and had to give myself a bit of my own fun.

I look down at her fast asleep let my mind wander to the future. I may not have many memories from the past but my hopes for the future looked pretty good. With my acceptance of being in love I was pretty excited about all the things I'd get to explore.


	17. Chapter 17

"Nana this is yummy" Kelly says taking another mouthful of her chickpea curry.

"I glade you like it dear" Mum replies. Kelly has always been one for her food but she seems to like Mums especially. Maybe the reason is it's always a little different than the food she gets at home.

"She's right this is amazing" Emily whispers in my ear. "Now I know where you get your cooking skills from" she finishes taking my hand in hers under the table.

"Where you get yours too hun" I shoot back.

She laughs at that. "Doesn't really surprise me with my mums cooking I had to learn it from somewhere."

"Yeah mum gave us both some lessons before we went to Uni. Glade she did, otherwise the two of us would have been living off instant noodles and take-aways" I joke.

"So have the two of you done any thinking about baby names?" Mum asks pulling us out of our private conversation.

I look at Emily wondering if she's put any thought into the whole thing. I think personally we'd had a whole lot of other things going on. To be fair I was also only four months we had ages to think about that. On the other hand the instant that we found out Emily was pregnant we started throwing names around.

"Haven't really thought about it yet mum" I reply.

"Yeah" Emily agrees.

"Course I guess there's other things on your mind right now" Mum agrees.

It's not like the two of us aren't excited about this. We both are even with the weird situation. I guess that its just we've been trying to get all the other stuff sorted, then when the baby comes hopefully everything will be back to almost normal.

"Mummy's having a baby boy called Bradley" Kelly pipes up in between mouthfuls.

"What" Emily and I both ask looking at Kelly for further information.

"In my dream Mummy had a baby boy and he was called Bradley" Kelly says simply.

I look at Emily and we both smile. She squeezes my hand under the table.

"That sounds like a nice dream Kelly" Emily says.

"It was Mumma and he was my baby brother and he loved me" She fills in causing all of us to smile widely.

"I think your going to be a great big sister Kelly" Mum says as Kelly looks at her and gives her an adorable smile.

"She's out" I say to Emily as I carefully place Kelly in my old bed. She'd only just lasted through dinner before she'd cured up on the couch and fallen asleep. Her Day with Jenna must have taken a lot out of her. I look up to see where Emily is seeing as she hasn't answered. She's looking around the room intently there are still a lot of my old things scattered throughout the room despite the fact I hadn't been living in it for about 10 years.

"You right babe?" I ask walking over to her. Now that I'm closer I can see she's looking at a picture of the two of us all dressed up for a night out. In the picture we're both too young to actually be allowed into clubs and to drink but it never did stop us.

"There're a lot of memories in this room" she voices quietly a weird tone to her voice.

"Yeah there are, most good but a few of them not so good" I agree.

"You know I really liked the name Sophie for a girl until about a minute ago." She states sadness to her tone.

So she's remembered the whole Sophia thing. I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later I'm just pleased it wasn't sooner. At least now she has some good memories of us after that time.

"Hun that was a long time ago when I was a stupid twat who couldn't believe she'd found her soul mate so easily. Nothing like that ever happened again." I explain hoping this won't cause problems. It's an issue that got forgiven many years ago I really don't want it causing issues just when things seem so good again.

"I know" she says nodding her head "It's just I might need a minute. For you it was years ago and we've worked through it but for me it feels like it just happened, like I'm finding out for the first time. I don't want to let this to affect us Naomi but I just need a minute to get my head around this. I need to think about all the good things I can remember since then. Can I meet you downstairs soon?" she asks I can see she's close to tears.

"Yeah course Ems" I say giving her a soft kiss on the forehead. "I love you ok, now and forever just remember that while you're thinking." I say walking out of the room backwards looking at her until she gives me a small nod.

"Everything alright dear?" Mum asks as I make my way into the living room.

"Yeah my old room just brought back some not so fond memories Ems said she just needed a minute." I explain knowing my mother will know what I'm talking about.

"Aww well I guess it was bound to happen, look on the bright side at least she's regaining memories that's got to be good right?" Mum questions always one to put a positive look on things.

"Yeah it is" I say smiling.

"How about I get us some pudding I made rhubarb crumble and I've got cream to go with it" she says excitement in her tone. My mother really is one of a kind.

"Sounds great mum" I say shuffling back into the comfortable lounge chair as she prepares us each a bowl.

Fifteen minutes later and an empty bowl for both Mum and I and Emily still hadn't come down. I look at my mother a worried look on my face. I know she told me she needed a minute to think but I was worried about her. Should I go and check make sure she was ok or respect her wishes and wait it out. Normally I'd have no trouble assessing the situation and making a decision but what with the accident and my pregnancy make my brain act weird I was at a loss.

"Let my go talk to her dear" Mum says getting up and moving towards the stairs. I nod letting her know that she's got my permission. If anyone can help Ems figure this out it will be her. I have a lot of faith in my mother. I feel like my view of her has changed in the opposite direction than is normal for children. When I was younger I actually thought she was a bit shit. That she cared more about the world and its problems than she did me. Now that I'm older and wiser I appreciate her much more. Now she's a sort of super hero to me. She actually didn't start with all that world saving business till I came along. She wanted to save the world and right its wrongs for me. Make it a better place for me and my children. I understand that now I'm a mother myself. I've talked with Emily about mothers, before the accident that is. Her view of her mother moved the opposite way. When she was young she saw her as a super hero who could do anything. As she got older she began to realise that she was in fact only human and capable of mistakes and wrong doings just like the rest of us.

"Hey" Emily says pulling me abruptly from my thoughts. I look around and she's standing meekly at the bottom of the stairs.

"Everything ok Ems?" I ask hoping that Mum managed to help her with a few of her thoughts.

"Yeah it's good, hoping we could just head home actually. Your mum said Kelly could stay here since she's out to it." she explains.

"Course whatever you want" I reply.

"Here's that crumble I promised" Mum says entering the room with a large container of pudding apparently for us to take home.

"Thanks" Emily says smiling genuinely at my mother "for everything" she adds handing me the pudding and pulling my mother into a hug. I see my mother whisper something in her ear before she pulls away which makes Emily laugh.

"Yeah thanks Mum" I copy "Give us a ring if Kelly needs anything."

"She'll be fine; you ladies go home and have a nice night. It was lovely to see you as always."

"So" I say as we make our way into the lounge and take a seat on the couch "You want to talk about it?"

"Nah its ok Nai I had a chat with your mum she's a very smart women" she replies.

"Yeah she is" I agree.

"Besides only took a bit to get over that. I just had to look at our daughter she's the most precious thing in the whole world how could she not be created out of love." she informs.

"Why were you upstairs so long then?" I ask confused by what kept her.

"Well I was going to the bathroom on my way back down. Then I got really annoyed when I realised Mrs Flow was here for a visit. I think that actually upset me more than the memory. I decided today that I was ready to you know, get physical and then my stupid body" she says annoyance evident in her tone.

"Hey it's ok" I say pulling her into me.

"I'm just grumpy that stupid nature ruined my night and now I feel crappy and my stomach feels all crampy and I know it's only going to get worse. Now I sound like a winey idiot." She rants throwing her hands up at the last word.

"I understand Ems I really do. Plus side to dating a girl that one, they actually know what you're going through and can understand you have no control over your crazy moods. How about we go upstairs get a hot water bottle for your stomach and possibly one for my back, them we cuddle up and watch a movie." I suggest, looking at her for a response.

"Sounds perfect" she says taking my hand and helping me off the couch.

"Mmmmm" I sigh in contentment ten minutes later as I relax back onto a scorching hot water bottle and pull Emily into my shoulder.

"Yeah" she confirms pecking my check.

"Better?" I ask looking at her for an answer.

"Much" she affirms "those pain killers are starting to kick in and the hottie really helps too."

"Yeah mines helping to loosen up my tense back" I agree.

"That hotties helping too" she replies giving me a cheeky wink. I smile and lean down for a tender kiss. I have to admit I got a little excited when she mentioned being ready for sex earlier. Don't get me wrong I'd wait much longer for her to be ready but I'm happy she is. Feel like these baby hormones are really starting to kick in and I want it all the time. Not to mention I've gone from a more than healthy sex life to practically no sex life overnight.

"So what are we watching?" I ask pulling myself away from thoughts that were sure to lead to images of naked Emily.

"Well I thought since we couldn't have sex that we could maybe watch ourselves instead." She says unsurely.

"You want to watch our honeymoon DVD?" I ask making sure my mind I'm not hearing things.

"Yeah" she says shyly not looking me in the eye.

"Ok" I say knowing it's going to be somewhat of a challenge not being able to do what our on screen counterparts are afterwards.

"You sure" she checks to make sure I'm ok with the idea.

"Yeah course babe if you want to watch it together so do I. Just don't expect me to be able to keep my hands off you because I going to have a hard enough time keeping them above the belt." I explain seeing the smirk that spreads across her face.

"Kinda the idea Naoms" she says looking at me with a look I haven't seen in too long. She leans over to her bedside cabinet pushing play on the remote and snuggling back into my side.

We watch in silence for a bit getting to the part she had watched to the first time without any hands wandering. I was feeling rather warm though and I could safely say it had little to do with the hottie pressed onto my back and lots to do with the hot action displayed on our television. I know there's a lull in the action as we both recover from our first orgasm so I take the opportunity to pull Emily into a kiss. She responds eagerly as turned on by the action as me it seems. I enjoy the duelling of our tongues for a few minutes before I hear my voice from the television. I pull away turning to see the TV screen Emily following my lead. She gasps as she looks at what I have onscreen.

"What are you going to do with that?" she asks pointing to the Television arousal and excitement evident in her tone. She always does get extra horny during her period.

"You'll just have to watch" I reply taking the hot water bottle from her stomach and placing my hand there massaging it in circles just like she says helps the pain. She closes her eyes for a minute enjoying the sensation but opens them the instant she hears herself moan from the television.

"That's not all going to fit" she says pointing at the screen where a younger skinner version of myself is slowly inserting an object into her.

"It's like twice the size… Oh" she stops herself as the onscreen antics continue and she realises where the other half is going. "Wow" she exclaims. It's funny to think that she's currently got the sex knowledge of a shy teenager. It's funny to observe as she takes in the action. I feel my breasts getting sensitive and my underwear growing wet as I listen to the loud moans of Emily and me from the television.

I can't help but want to touch the real woman beside me. I pull away her hair from her neck placing open mouthed kissed up and down her neck. I don't want to interrupt her from her intend viewing but at the same time I need to feel her. She leans her neck to the side welcoming my touch allowing me more access to the soft perfumed skin. I slowly move the hand resting on her stomach up to her breasts leaving it there a moment to gauge her reaction. She turns to me for a second kissing my lips and giving me a small nod before turning back to the images of our writhing naked bodies.

"Wow" she says an hour later as we lay wrapped up together, DVD finished and lights turned off.

"Yeah" I agree "I didn't think we could have that much fun with only our shirts off" I say pulling her closer so I can feel her nipples brushing close to mine.

"I didn't realise there were so many different ways to make a woman orgasm" she replies "Do we still have that umm thing" she queries referring to the things we'd be using onscreen.

"Yeah we do" I confirm.

"Cool" she says running her hand up my back.

"Mmm" I reply feeling myself getting sleepy "night Ems"

"Night Naomi"

"Love you" I manage to get out.

"You too" I hear as I drift of not quite knowing if it's real or a really nice dream.

**There is another one with the video as promised. Although I'll let you leave the rest of that up to your imagination. One again thanks so much for the fed back. Let me know what you think of this one. Hope all is well for all of you. **

**:).**


	18. Chapter 18

**Hey Fanfic Land as always thanks so much for the reviews and alerts. It's great to see people still adding my story to their alerts list and favourite story. To the person how pointed out to me the different between glad and glade thank you I'm glad you did. Think it's something I'll remember from now on hopefully anyway but if I don't be sure to pull me up again. Always great to get your reviews and thoughts hope you enjoy this one. Feel free to guess what Bobs talking about lets see if anyone gets it right. **

"So will you come?" she asks looking at me hope etched upon her face.

She wants me to go to a work function with her, some big party that her work throws for its employees each year. Apparently there is no particular reason for the party just a way to boost staff morale and show appreciation. According to Naomi it would consist of a lavish dinner and opportunities to dance and socialise. It did sound nice but at the same time I was a little hesitant. Being around a whole lot of people who I have to get to know again seems overwhelming.

"What about Kelly?" I ask hoping it would help to sway my decision.

"Lots of people at have work have children. They hire some nannies and some pretty awesome things for them to play on. Last year they had a bouncy castle Kelly tackled it despite everyone thinking she was too young. It's all very child friendly starts at 5.30pm and all ties up around ten." She explains.

"Ok" I say nodding thinking it might be fun. I mean what harm could a free night out do.

"Really?" Naomi asks apparently surprised by the answer.

"Yeah sounds good, would have been nice to have a bit more notice though" I reply as the night in question happened to be tomorrow.

"Sorry about that Hun they reminded us last week but my brains all over the place at the moment. Baby brain things go in one ear and out the other most of the time." She says making me laugh.

"Again with those baby excuses" I retort.

"Yeah got to use it while I can, plus growing another life inside of you is pretty hard work" she explains. I take her hand and drag her down onto the couch with me pecking her on the lips through my laughter.

"You look stunning" Naomi compliments looking me up and down as I walk in. She had sent me and Kelly out shopping while she was working telling me to buy both of us something nice to wear. Finding Kelly an adorable outfit had been easy. She picked out a beautiful blue blouse with a skirt and tights in the first shop we entered. I on the other hand had to shop round a bit. I'd eventually settled on a tight fitting silk dress that was black with red edging. I had hoped it was just the right combination of stylish and sexy. Naomi's reaction right now told me that it was.

"If you've stopped your staring you might want to go get ready, Kelly and I are ready when you are." I reply "Oh and thanks" I add realising my rudeness in not responding to her compliment.

"Yeah I'm going" Naomi mutters walking past me begrudgingly to get ready. I laugh at her antics knowing she's looking forward to tonight and that her annoyance is merely an act.

Twenty minutes later and we're all headed to the car. Naomi looks as beautiful as the rest of us in her black pinstripe pants and peasant blouse. Kelly seems extremely excited by the whole thing chattering on about the different toys they might have as I help her into her car seat.

As we pull up in front of the large building I feel somewhat nervous. The daunting 10 storey building lets my imagination run wild with the other daunting things that could happen this evening. Naomi interrupts me from these taking my hand and giving it a soft squeeze before kissing my forehead. She then gets out of the car to collect Kelly giving me a moment to collect my thoughts. I take a deep breath and exit the car to join my smiling family.

"This is nice" I hum into Naomi's neck as we dance slowly to the band the company had hired. I wasn't lying I was having a great time. Dinner had been an amazing buffet of fancy food. Naomi's colleagues also seemed to be nice people and conversation had been both pleasant and interesting. I was actually surprised by how much I was enjoying it. I had a feeling Kelly was having a ball too. The games they had for the children to play looked pretty exciting.

"Yeah it is" Naomi agrees pulling me tighter though it's barely possible.

"Hey Hun, I noticed you haven't had anything to drink tonight any reason you aren't taking advantage of the open bar?" Naomi asks quietly.

"As enticing as the open bar is I have some things I want to do tonight and I'd rather not be intoxicated at the time" I whisper seductively. Naomi looks at me brows furrowed questioning my statement.

"Yes you're thinking what I'm thinking" I add huskily feeling Naomi shiver as the words register in her mind.

"Don't make promises you can't keep Fitch" she says letting her hand slip lower for just a second giving my bottom a short squeeze before returning her hands to a respectable position.

"Oh Campbell I fully intend to follow through" I inform laughing quietly as Naomi looks at me at a loss for words.

"Naomi, Emily?" a tall balding man greets approaching us. Naomi sighs pulling out of our dancing position.

"Bob how are you?" Naomi says a fake politeness to her tone. I find this a little strange as she's been genuinely nice to all the other people we've met seen tonight.

"Good thanks, heard about that offer from the big bosses to good to turn down that one." He says laughing and slapping Naomi heartily on the arm. I hear her take a deep breath beside me trying to control her anger it seems before giving him a death glare.

"Bob I'm not sure how you found out about that as I'm fairly certain it's confidential business at the moment but considering I only found out about it this afternoon, thanks so much for coming over and mentioning it in front of my wife who I haven't had a chance to talk to about it yet" she says anger and sarcasm clearly evident in her tone. I'm really curious about what they're talking about but I have a feeling it is not a conversation for right now.

"Seriously Naomi that's not the sort of offer you can turn down." He says looking at her like she's crazy.

"Actually Bob it is I have to do what's right for me and my family. Me and my wife are going to sit down and talk about this and we're also going to ask our daughter what she thinks." Naomi bites back clearly annoyed at his attitude. I can't help but smile at this. I can see that whatever Naomi has been offered that I can trust her to discuss it with me.

"Really Naomi? I mean aren't you the man of the house the provider for your family don't you decide what best for them?" he says a nasty superiority to his tone.

"Actually Bob although my wife does look very pretty on my arm I married her for love. We are a partnership and we make our decisions together but thanks for the marital advice." Naomi says turning and walking away. I give Bob a scathing look before following Naomi. She stops as she gets to the bar.

"This is the part where I would order a drink to calm my anger but the whole pregnant thing kind of prevents that" she says looking at me as I reach her side.

"Hun Bobs a giant twat and all that little speech there did was make you look amazing" I say sitting down on a bar stool next to her.

"Thanks Ems we'll talk about that thing tomorrow yeah" she says taking my hand and kissing it gently. I'm just about to answer when another person approaches us quickly.

"Emily, Naomi we've had a small incident in the children's room the two of you might want to come down and get Kelly" he states alarming both of us enough to stand up and follow him.

"What happened? Is she ok?" I ask thousands of scenarios running through my head about the terrible things that could have happened to my baby girl.

"Well as far as we can tell Kelly kissed Lily and Lily's brother got jealous that Kelly was kissing his sister and not him so he hit her" the man explains.

"Is she ok?" Naomi asks concerned.

"Yes we've got some ice on her eye but we think it may bruise a little other than that she's asking for her Mummies." He explains just as we reach the door of the children's room. We enter quickly and hurry over to where one of the female nannies is comforting Kelly.

"Mummy, Mumma" she says through her tears reaching out for both of us. Naomi takes her off the woman and immediately pulls her in tightly to her chest calming her sobs.

"I'm so sorry about this" the man says looking at the two of us guiltily.

"It's fine Nigel, these kind of things happen. She'll be alright she a tough little cookie our Kelly" Naomi replies. She's right our daughter is very resilient and this was just one of those things that happen to kids. Well not this exact situation but them getting hurt.

"We're just going to get her home now, thanks so much for watching her" she adds smiling before we walk away.

"You think it's funny?" I asked astonished that Naomi's actually laughing at this. She slows the car to a stop at the red light before turning her head towards me.

"No but just when I think our daughter couldn't be anymore like you she kisses a random girl just cause she feels like it." Naomi says laughing at me and poking out her tongue.

"Whatever, I bet that girl really wanted a kiss but was to scared to admit it and Naomi, the lights green" I say pointing to the lights that had changed about 20 seconds ago, poking my tongue out in my own got you gesture.

"Wow that took a while" I say entering our bedroom where Naomi is already sitting in bed reading a book. I'd finally gotten Kelly to sleep after some pain medicine and several stories. I thought she was going to ask to sleep with us but was quietly relived that she hadn't.

"I thought you'd fallen asleep in there with her" Naomi states looking up at me smiling. I just smile right back at her slowly striping off my dress to reveal the sexy lingerie underneath. She places the book on her nightstand full attention remaining on me the whole time. I move slowly towards the bed climbing on as sexily as I can, or rather what I think is sexily. Apparently it was working for Naomi as she bites her lip in anticipation of what exactly is going to happen next. I lean in and kiss her gently apprehensive and excited about what was going to happen.

"Mmm" Naomi responds pulling away. "Just to check we're going to have sex tonight right and it's because you want to?"

"Yes Naomi we're having sex tonight because I want to and I love you." I reply "Now less talking and more action you need to show me what's so great about this whole sex thing."

Naomi seems to take my demanding tone very seriously; she pushes me backwards so I'm lying flat on my back and begins to shower me with kisses. Her method seems completely erratic jumping from my lips to my ear them over to my nose before trailing kisses down my neck. It reminds me of an excited puppy dogs that's not quite sure which way to run so tries to go in every direction. Then again I can't really blame her for being so excited it has been a while and she's been amazing with everything. Somehow this excited puppy thing was working for her, it has me on edge anticipating her next move enjoying the sensations spreading throughout my body.

She continues kissing me and I kiss back with as much enthusiasm when ever she ventures backup to my mouth. I had tried to kiss her all over too but it seems Naomi has a clear picture in her brain about how this is going to go. The idea I get is that it's her pleasing me. I've decided to embrace her plan enjoying the caressing of her lips and tongue.

I can't help but sigh in appreciation as her finger land on my naked nipple. I'm not quite sure how she did it but apparently she's managed to remove my bra without me even noticing.

"Naoms" I sigh in contentment as she flicks and rolls my breasts expertly while kissing my neck. She looks up at me as I say her name dopey smile plastered on her face.

"I love it when you sound like that, it's the sound of my girl enjoying herself" Naomi says leaning in to connect our lips again her hands continuing their talented work on my nipples. As we kiss I feel her hands slowly moving themselves from their location and venture towards territory we've yet to explore since my accident. She pulls away from our kiss as her hands reach the top of my knickers looking at me as if asking for permission. I nod telling her its ok feeling myself getting even moister below with the anticipation of it all. Her fingers finally meet my folds slightly cold compared to my heat. She runs them around in the warmth for a minute letting me enjoy the sensation teasing my clit with soft nudges. Just as I'm getting used to the sensation she gives me a surprise by slipping one of her fingers inside. I bury me head in her neck as my body tries to comprehend all the beautiful sensations it's experiencing. Despite Naomi still wearing underwear I can feel her hard nipples pressed against my chest and moistness where her own heat is pressed again my leg. I let out a low moan unable to contain the pleasure and Naomi takes it as a cue to continue. She moves her finger slowly looking at me for a reaction before increasing her pace. I close my eyes getting lost in the sensations, feeling everything and nothing all at once. Just as I feel like I'm about to explode Naomi pulls her finger out. I open my mouth about to protest but I feel her tongue begin kissing my lower regions.

Boy does Naomi know how to make me feel fantastic I can't help but moan her name as I reach my highest point of 'Ecstasy Mountain' several minutes later her tongue still pleasing me as I make my decent down the other side. Apparently the whole thing had been pretty good for her too at least the grin on her face made me assume so as she lays her head on the pillow beside mine. I smile back pulling her into me wanting to feel as close as possible. I look at her lips and think about what they had just been doing to me. It both turned me on and intrigued me. The memory I had of our first time involved me doing it to her but it didn't feel real. I couldn't remember how it felt or how she smelt or tasted and I was mighty curious. I lean in and kiss her thinking it might provide me with some answers. She kisses back eagerly before both of us pull back. I hadn't found any answer there so I guess there was only one way to figure this out. I smile at Naomi and reach down to find the bottom of her shirt. Just as I'm about to start pulling it over her head we're both started by a voice from down the hall.

"Mumma, Mummy" Kelly shouts distress evident in her tone. I look at Naomi who lets out a heavy sigh.

"I got it" she says kissing me on the forehead before slowly pulling herself out of bed. "You might want to put some clothes on though babe. Despite the fact that I love your butt naked look I have a feeling it's going to be a case of threes a crowd very shortly."

I get up throwing on a baggy t-shirt and a pair of boxers before sliding back beneath the warm blankets. Naomi returns a few minutes later, Kelly as predicted, nestled in her arms. Her eye had really blackened up since I had tucked her in and by morning I suspected she's have a full blown shiner.

"Had a bad dream Mumma and my eye is sore" she says a Naomi places her gently in the bed before getting in herself.

"That's no good my angel everything's ok your safe here with us" I whisper her eyes already dropping as she snuggles into my pillow. Within in a few minutes, after a tender kiss from each of her parents, she's back in the world of nod.

"That'd be right wouldn't it" Naomi says with a smirk gesturing to the sleeping child between us.

"I'm sorry you didn't get to you know" I say blushing a little.

"It doesn't matter hun believe me when I say I enjoyed that almost as much as you did. Just a bit bummed I don't get my after cuddles" she replies.

"I can fix that" I reply getting out of the bed and walking around to the other side. I shuffle in behind Naomi her having to manoeuvre Kelly and herself a little so there is room. I get myself settled so my arms are wrapped tightly around Naomi from behind, legs twisted in with hers.

"Better?" I question into the nape of her neck before kissing it gently.

"Perfect" she replies taking my hand and resting it with her own on her belly as the other moves slowly up and down our daughters back. We lay like this for a short while before I get up the nerve to ask the question that's been on my mind since talking to Bob.

"What did your job offer you Naoms" I ask casually.

"That's possibly a conversation for tomorrow Ems" she replies quietly.

"What if you tell me now and we talk about it tomorrow?" I press really wanting to know exactly what's going on.

"If I tell you now you're going to want to talk about it now. Believe me Ems I do want you to know its just it's not really the best time to talk about it. When we do I want us to have time to have a discussion, to both share our views and to decide what's best for all of us." She explains helping me understand a little.

"Your such an adult" I whinge in a childish tone. "You also make it sound really big and scary."

"It is pretty big Hun but that's all you're getting, we'll talk tomorrow morning I promise. Goodnight Ems" she says cutting of the discussion until tomorrow leaving me wondering and a little worried.


	19. Chapter 19

As I slowly regain my consciousness I feel a warm wetness on my neck. I let my mind work for a second trying to figure out what it is. The warmness is accompanied by a soft snore and I realise its Emily. It's not very often that I wake up with her behind me. It's nice though to have her wrapped around me for a change, despite the dribble I'm fairly certain is all over my neck. My front doesn't seem any better Kelly having made a pretty good job of dribbling all over my chest. Apparently I'm the only one in this family who doesn't dribble. Maybe the little life growing inside me will be able to help me with the current imbalance. I lay for a while enjoying the blissfulness that is lazing in a warm bed with the people you love.

"Morning Hun" I say as I feel Emily wriggling behind me. She groans in acknowledgement clearly still in between asleep and awake.

"Crap sorry Nai" she says a few minutes later when she's finally let her brain become fully awake.

"What for?" I ask slightly confused by what she's saying.

"I slobbered all over you" she replies embarrassment evident in her tone. I can't help but laugh at it.

"Emily I would of got rid of you years ago if I couldn't cope with a bit of dribble" I tell her making her let out a laugh of her own.

"Can we talk about that stuff now?" Emily asks apparently very eager to find out exactly what it is that may affect our future.

"I don't see why not babe, you want to move back to your side of the bed so I can see you?" I ask.

She hesitates for a moment. I assume she's weighing up whether moving is worth it. She decides it is and I smile at her as she snuggles back into bed where I can see her.

"You ok?" she queries as an odd sensation passes through my stomach.

"Ahh yeah I'm fine just an odd feeling feels a bit like butterflies or something." I explain.

"You nervous about something?" she asks reaching her hand over to hold mine.

"No, I think the doctor said when the baby starts moving it feels a bit like butterflies though." I explain having remembered Doctor Graham's words.

"The babies moving?" Emily says excitedly moving her hand from mine to my stomach having to be careful of Kelly who's somewhere in between.

"I think it might be the baby, you won't be able to feel it yet though. It just feels like someone's tickling my insides." I tell her.

"You make sure you tell me as soon as I can feel it" she says giving me a quick kiss on the lips. "Now where do we start?"

"To cut to the chase my work offered me two months work in New Zealand writing a report on the sustainability of their forestry industry." I tell her waiting for her reaction.

"Ok so what would that mean for us?" she asks looking a little worried wanting to know more.

"Well they'd pay for all of our flights and give us somewhere to live and I think a car and things. I'd also be getting half a years pay for two months work" I explain keeping my eyes on Emily to gauge her reaction.

"Wow is that it" she asks seeming quite over whelmed by the whole thing. I ponder for a moment if I should tell her the rest but decide she has a right to know.

"Well if we choose to go then the company I work for as a gift for my service will give me a 0.3% share in it." Emily looks at me as if that means very little to her. "That pretty much means that for life I'm guaranteed a job at any of the companies 10 locations worldwide. It would also mean we got 0.3% of the company's profits each year. Lastly they have said that I could have 6 months paid leave when the babies born." I finish looking at her face for clues to how she's feeling.

"0.3%" she questions "I'm guessing from that big party last night that that's a little more than it sounds"

I laugh at her question "Little bit Hun it's a multi million dollar company so in an average year my salary would likely double with our share of the profits." I confirm seeing her eyes widen at the thought.

"You right there pop eyes" I joke squeezing her hand trying to get her to react in some way.

"Yeah sorry I was just thinking Bob was right this isn't the sort of thing you can just turn down Naomi." She says her voice timid.

"Yes we can turn it down Emily, it's just money that they are offering. Yes it would set us up for life but we are already pretty well off, this isn't something that has to happen. The board at work said they fully understand if I choose not to accept the offer, they understand things aren't exactly simple for us right now." I say trying to get across to her that this isn't a done deal this is something for us to discuss. To be honest I'd already pretty much come to terms with the fact that it just wasn't the right time for us to take the offer. I would be happy to turn it down and just focus on preparing for our second child. Despite this I knew I needed to tell Emily, we had to come to a decision together, I couldn't make a choice either way without including her in it.

"When do you have to decide?" she queries still a little stunned by it all I think. I lean in and give her a light kiss on the lips.

"We" I say making sure she understands this is a joint decision "need to have decided either way by the end of next. If we were to decide it was the right thing for us right now we would be leaving in a month." I say trying to figure out if I have told her all the major details.

"You keep saying we Naomi but how can I tell you not to take this deal. Would you not resent me if I prevented you from taking up this amazing opportunity?" she asks looking down at our still sleeping daughter, emotion finally present in her tone. She's scared, she wants to tell me that we should go because she's sacred I'll blame her if we don't.

"Emily" I say making her look up at me reaching out to stroke her face gently as she does. "Yes this is an amazing opportunity I'm not going to lie. Honestly if I didn't have you and Kelly and this baby of course I'd have said yes straight away. It would have been an amazing adventure. But I do have you and being with you is an amazing adventure too. Yes I enjoy my job and yes I like that I influence the world hopefully for the better but it's not my life. You are you and Kelly, I work so our family can have the things we need and want, and we have all that. I don't know if you understand me yet but we have to make this decision together understand?" I rant feeling a little breathless after all that talking.

"Ok, can we think it over, talk about it later?" she requests.

"Course we can, sounds like the perfect idea" I say leaning in slowly intending to give her another gentle kiss. My lips get away from me a bit and the small kiss I intended lasts a few minutes.

"Mummy" I hear from between us disturbing our intimate lip joining. "Mummy your squashing me stop kissing Mumma" it continues causing me to pull back. I Look down at our little drama queen who is clearly not being squashed but is looking at me with a cheeky grin, black eye fully formed and quite impressive.

"Your not being squashed" I say leaning in and pressing a kiss to her forehead "But you are being tickled" I continue tickling her under arms and her stomach as she lets out the most adorable laugh ever.

"Help Mumma" she squeals in between the giggles looking at Emily who is just observing the situation amused.

"Yes, help Mumma" I repeat winking at Emily as she too helps me tickle our hysterical daughter.

"Mummy, my eye looks funny" Kelly says as we brush our teeth together in front of the bathroom mirror. She's got a confused look on her face head tilted to the side one hand on the tooth brush sticking out of her mouth as the other pokes her eye.

"Don't touch it baby it will hurt" I say somewhat futilely as she discovers the fact her self.

"Not want to look funny" she says looking at me her lip poking out in the way it does when she's about to cry.

"Aw Kel" I say spitting out my toothpaste and rinsing my mouth before picking her up. "You know we can't make your eye all better it has to heal by itself. But I happen to know that your Mumma is pretty talented at making people look like they have sore eyes. What if we asked her to give me one too?" I ask hoping I've picked the right idea to calm her down.

"Yeah and Mumma have one too" Kelly agrees nodding her head at me.

"Yeah Mumma definitely has to have one too" I respond "How about you finish brushing your teeth then and we go down and see if Mumma can fix us up?" I ask smiling as she nods eagerly, brushing her teeth with vigour before spiting out and rising.

"We buy it" Kelly says decisively passing me a handful of monopoly money. Kelly had insisted after Emily had adorned us both with pretty impressive fake injuries that we play monopoly. She really seemed to love the game and was a stickler for the rules. She'd woken up one night and come downstairs to find Emily, Katie, James and I playing. She'd sat very quietly on my lap watching the whole process with surprising concentration. Ever since then it had become her favourite game for us to play together. Today it was Emily and Kelly verse me and baby according to Kelly. Kelly and Emily were, under Kelly instructions, a fair way ahead of my efforts. My daughter really did amaze me sometimes with her abilities. Before we had her I always thought of children as not very capable of things. I imagined that it would take many years before Kelly would be able to do many of the things she picked up naturally. It's amazing really the amount of things she learns from just watching her mother and I. I can't wait to see her begin to teach it all to her baby sibling.

"Mummy" She says interrupting my thoughts "We buyed Old Kent road you got to give it to us"

"Sorry Kel, got a bit distracted." I say searching through the properties and handing her Old Kent Road as I find it. Just as I reach for the dice to have my turn the phone starts to ring.

"I got it" Kelly yells jumping off Emily's lap and running towards the phone in the kitchen. She returns a few seconds later chatting happily to whoever is on the line.

"It's Aunty Katie" She says holding the phone out to Emily before walking round to me, smart enough to know that it might take a while. She climbs onto my lap looking at me before placing her hand on my stomach.

"Baby in there" she says patting it gently. She's been almost as fascinated with the whole thing as I am. She's been asking questions ever since she noticed my small bump.

"Yip that's right" I nod as she gently runs her hand in a circle over it.

"I growed in your tummy too?" she questions looking up at me frown on her face. She knows the answer to this question has asked it before but I guess there is a reason she wants to know.

"No you my little Munchkin grew in Mumma's tummy." I inform her. She nods at the information staring at my baby bump for a minute before looking back up at me.

"That mean you love Bradley more than me?" She asks concerned look gracing her features. I couldn't help but smile at her comment. Not because she was questioning my love for her but because she was insisting on calling the baby Bradley. We didn't even know if it was a boy yet but she was certain it was her brother Bradley.

"No course not" I say kissing the top of her head. "I love you and Mumma and baby"

"Bradley" Kelly cuts in.

"Bradley" I continue "Very, very much. You are all just as important as each other."

"Ok" she says apparently satisfied with my answer. "I love you too Mummy" she adds planting a sloppy kiss on my cheek. Despite it leaving my cheek with a large amount of spit spread across it, it really is one of my favourite things.

"Katie come for dinner" Kelly says a minute later, Emily and Katie still chatting on the phone me having zoned out about exactly what.

"What's that Kel?" I question.

"Ask Aunty Katie come for dinner" she repeats. Emily looks at me from her seat across the table, tuning into mine and Kelly's conversation upon hearing her sister name. She raises an eyebrow at me in question and I smile and give her a small nod in return.

"She wants to know what you're cooking" Emily relays having posed the question to her sister.

"Tell her I'll do her favourite" I reply after a second of considering what we had in the house.

"My favourite too" Kelly pipes in knowing that her and Katie both love my roast chicken dinners.

"Yeah it is baby" I confirm.

"She wants to know if you're making the gravy too?" Emily asks being the go between on negations.

"Ask her if she really thinks I'd deprive my wife and daughter of things they see as such a necessity" I pipe in.

"She wants to remind you" Emily starts.

"It was one time and I couldn't help that I spilt the stock and had nothing to make it with" I interrupt knowing the point Katie had asked Emily to raise.

"She asks what time" Emily says.

"6 sound ok to you guys?" I question getting a nod from family. "Oh and Ems tell her that dress code requires a black eye."

Emily just laughs at this relaying the message to her sister, a minute or two of explaining required before we return to our game.

**There we go another one hope you enjoyed it. Let me know if you're still enjoying this story and interested in seeing more. For all those people reviewing and alerting it thanks as always its great to know what you think. On that note let me know what you think should happen with the whole moving thing. I have an idea about which way I want that one to swing but your opinions could very well sway me. I have no definite plans, I just let my mind type whatever it will. Thanks again for reading. :)**


	20. Chapter 20

"So Sis what's new?" I ask as we dig into the dinner Naomi has cooked. We'd had to do a quick job on Katie's eye when she got here. Apparently she'd thought my comment was a joke. She'd been quite amused when I'd opened the door and seen my face; her smile had quickly dropped when she had seen Kelly.

"Just the usual work and what not plus I sort of have a boyfriend now." She says tacking the last bit on the end quickly.

"What" Naomi and I both ask looking at Katie with surprise.

"Yes you heard me right I have a boyfriend we've been dating for a few weeks, I really like him." Katie replies smiling shyly as she says the last part.

"Wow that's great Katie but why are we only just hearing about this now?" Naomi asks a hint of offence in her voice.

"Settle down Naomi, I know it's a little late but I promise you're the first to know. We've only just decided that it a boyfriend, girlfriend thing plus you know with everything going on with you." she says trailing off.

"Regardless Katie we would have been very pleased to hear about what going on with you." Naomi replies "So spit it out then I know you want to tell us all about him." She continues.

"Yeah we want to know bout your boyfriend" Kelly adds through a mouthful of roasted potato and gravy.

"Well his name is Mark and he's a teacher." She starts taking a mouthful of dinner and swallowing before giving us anything else.

"Aww come on" I say "You've kept us waiting long enough you've got to give us more than that."

"Gosh aren't the two of you pushy, not my fault your wife's roast dinner is so amazing" she says in her Katie like way. "Anyway if you listen for a minute I might satisfy your nosy tendencies. So I met him at the supermarket it was cliché really. I couldn't reach the wine I wanted from the top shelf. Course he got it down for me. He then insisted that we better do the rest of our shopping together as I might not be able to reach something else. I was actually only there for a bottle of wine but I had to do some pretty quick thinking. I ended up with some mushrooms, dozen eggs and some sausages. I don't even eat any of those things but apparently the whole experience was worth it I also ended up with a boyfriend." She says laughing at the memory.

"That sounds nice" Kelly says smiling cheekily from her seat food covering a large portion of her face.

"Yes it was little cutie. Whole food thing kind of backfired on me though. I went over to his place for dinner last night and he cooked me sausages, mushroom, eggs and baked beans I didn't have the heart to tell him I hate all of those things. I mean it was so cute that he remembered so I ate and bit and faked that I wasn't actually hungry." She explains.

"Aww that's so lovely" I say knowing that Katie hasn't always had the best luck with men. This Mark sounds like he might be just what my sister deserved.

"Yeah he's just great he loves children, he cooks, his place and clothes are really fashionable and he's not taken, well he is now." She says smiling widely as she stuffs another mouthful of food into her mouth.

"We're really happy for you Katie" Naomi says taking my hand under the table running her thumb over the back of it. I get lost in the sensation unaware of what else is going on around me for a second.

"Sorry what?" I ask as I see Naomi looking at me with expectation.

"I was just asking Katie when we get to meet the new man in her life and she asked if we were free to have dinner sometime next week. Apparently he's heard more about us than we have about him and is keen to meet the three of us." She explains winking at me and squeezing my hand knowing she'd been distracting me.

"Yeah that sounds good" I agree nodding "you set up something with Mark and we'll be here" I say looking at Naomi for confirmation. She smiles at me nodding before kissing my forehead.

"Gosh it's clear to see you two have reunited so to speak" Katie says being careful with her words around Kelly.

"Oh shut up Katie" Naomi says apparently not keen on talking about our sex life with my sister in front of our daughter. I honestly can't blame her.

"Sorry apparently you got reunited with Ems but she didn't get to do so with you" Katie replies ignoring the glare Naomi is sending her way.

"Mummy" Kelly says loudly causing all of us to look her way. "You shouldn't say shut up to people it's not very nice." she finishes.

"Oh gosh I'm sorry baby girl Aunty Katie was just teasing me and I didn't like it very much." Naomi explains as I try and swallow the laughter that's threatening to bubble forth at any moment. Kelly just seems so serious about the whole matter. Naomi seems to notice my trouble and places her hand on my leg moving it far enough up my thigh that my laughter completely disappears, before returning it to an appropriate location.

"You need to say sorry to Aunty Katie" Kelly tells Naomi giving her a serious look. "And Aunty Katie it not nice to tease people you should say sorry too."

"I'm sorry Katie" Naomi says looking to Kelly to see if she's off the hook. Kelly gives her a small nod smiling at her before moving her glare to Katie.

"I'm sorry Naomi I didn't mean to tease and I really am pleased that you know…" Katie finishes there, Naomi narrowing her eyes at her as she goes on to add more than Naomi thinks is appropriate.

"Thank you Katie, on that note I think it might bath and bed time for you missy" she says standing from the table and moving round to where Kelly is sitting, empty plate in front of her.

"Ok Mummy" Kelly agrees letting Naomi pick her up without a fuss.

"Night Mumma, night Aunty Katie" she says as Naomi bends her down to let her kiss each of us. The kiss causes small pieces of food from Kelly's face to mine, but I guess that's the life of a parent.

"There's more food in the kitchen if either of you two are still hungry" she says as she walks out of the room.

"Race you for the last of the potatoes" Katie yells racing towards the kitchen. I sigh but get up quickly to run after her what can I do, they were really amazing potatoes and I have no doubt she'll take them all if I don't stop her.

"So what else is new with you Ems? How's everything going?" Katie asks as we seat ourselves on the couch having just demolished the last of Naomi's food.

"It's good, really good" I reply grinning as I think of last night and all the wonderful things Naomi's been doing for me.

"I was right wasn't I you and Nai are shagging again. Plus there something else you want to tell me." Katie says nudging me in the shoulder as she talks.

"What how would you know?" I ask wondering how she knows that there is news sitting right on the tip of my tongue ready to spill any minute.

"Ems I may not be the person who knows you best anymore but I'm a pretty close second, plus we're twins so come on spill I know you want to." She says looking at me with anticipation.

"Well uh Naomi got offered two months work in New Zealand" I say waiting for Katie to react in some way at the news.

"Wow Ems that amazing" she says pulling me into a hug. I'm very confused by her reaction it's definitely not what I was expecting.

"What do you mean it's amazing?" I ask trying to understand exactly what's going through my sister's head.

"This is Naomi's big shot Ems, her chance to be a permanent fixture at the company. You guys have been waiting for this chance for over a year now." Katie explains.

"But what about me Katie what about Kelly, it all sounds really great but what about my job?" Hoping my sister will help me to figure out how this whole situation might work out.

""Ems" Katie says taking my hand in hers giving it an affectionate squeeze. "This job it's Naomi's dream. Your job on the other hand is temporary; you're sticking it out till you can fulfil your dream. Yes you love being a social worker and you do like the people you work with but it's not your dream position. You…."

"Want to open a not for profit youth activity centre" I finish for Katie the words coming to me as she talks so passionately about the opportunity.

"Yeah that's right and this work opportunity for Naomi is also one for you. If you guys chose to take this you'll have enough money to build your dream, its one of Naomi's main motivators. There's no doubt she loves what she does but she wouldn't be trying to work her way up the pay ladder if it wasn't for you" Katie explains giving me even more evidence of how fucking selfless my wife is.

"Fucks sake, how did I end up married to the most selfless women in Britain?" I say feeling slightly guilty. It seemed everything Naomi did was for the benefit of me or Kelly. She was constantly thinking about how her action would affect us. I was just trying to figure out my own life right now and thinking about how other people felt about didn't really factor into that. Sure I wanted Naomi to be a part of my life but that's really as far as I'd figured it out.

"I'm not selfless Ems" Naomi states walking into the room "In fact I'm sure your sister can attest to the fact I'm actually a bit of a bitch. I do the things I do to keep myself happy, just happens that that involves keeping you happy too." She finishes taking a seat next to me and wrapping her arm around my shoulder as she does. I let myself lean into her leaning my head on her should and smiling up at her.

"Just for the record you do a pretty good job of it" I reply causing her to smile widely and wrap her arm just that a little big tighter.

"Good" she replies quietly in my ear before turning her attention to Katie who begins talking.

"I wanted you two to sort things out but I think at the time I forgot how fucking cheesy the two of you are." Katie says her distaste clear in the way her nose is crinkled.

"You love it Katie and from the way your talking about this Mark we might have a competition for who can produce the most cheese in the future." Naomi relies poking her tongue at Katie in a childish manner.

"Ha Naomi I hate to ruin your illusions that you portray some kind of badass image but you're the cheesiest person I know. Well when my sister or niece are anywhere to be seen anyway. No way Mark or I could ever take that away from you." Katie returns giving Naomi a satisfied smile indicating that she thought she'd won.

"You know what Katie I think I might take that as a compliment. I gave up trying to deny the fact that I was inescapably in love with your sister a long time ago and I don't think there's a person who has meet Kelly who hasn't been ensnared by her adorable charm." Naomi responds causing my insides to flutter slightly at her declaration of love. I can't help but lean in and kiss her gently holding her gaze as we pull apart.

"Fine whatever you win and on that note I think I might leave. Emily's looking at you like she was her dinner earlier and I'd rather not be around when she tries to consume you." Katie says getting of the couch Naomi and I standing up after her walking towards the front door to see her out.

"Congrats on the job offer by the way Nai, it's great I know you've been working towards it for a long time." Katie says pulling Naomi into a hug. It's a little strange for me to see still. I mean the only memories I really have of Katie and Naomi together are of Katie dragging me away from Naomi and yelling at her to stay away from me. I also have vivid memories of Katie trying to convince me that Naomi was no good, 'just a dirty lezzer trying to increase her popularity by being seen with on of the Fitch sisters' I think had been her exact words. Needless to say this strong bond they had surprised me.

"Thanks Katie" Naomi replies me finding no hint that the whole interaction was anything but genuine. "We'll just have to wait and see if the right time to take the offer."

"Bye Ems" She says giving me a hug as well before beginning to open the door.

"Bye" I reply as Katie makes her way out.

"Oh by the way, make sure you get your first this time Nai you know what my sisters like." Katie says turning back around and winking in our direction.

"Shut up and piss of Katie" Naomi replies but the small smirk pulling the corners of her mouth up is hard to miss.

"Careful wouldn't want your daughter to hear you talking like that" Katie bites back cheekily closing the door with a smile before Naomi has a chance to retaliate. Perhaps their relationship hadn't changed so much after all. It was clear their constant teasing of each other was still firmly in place. I got the feeling though that now instead of being out of spite and loathing it was out of love and affection.

"What do you want to do now Ems" Naomi asks pulling me from my comparison of the Naomi and Katie I had once known and the ones I saw now as adults.

"Hmm let's see, our daughters fast asleep and my sister just left so we have endless options." I say leaning in leaving our faces just a few millimetres apart. "Watch a movie, play a game but the thing I really want to do" I continue leaning a little bit closer "is that huge pile of dishes in the kitchen." I finish giggling and running away from Naomi as she lets out an annoyed grunt before following me towards the kitchen.

"Seriously Ems?" she questions in an unbelieving tone as she wanders into the kitchen where I'm stacking up the dirty dishes ready to be washed.

"Nah I just saw Katie teasing you and it looked like fun" I reply slipping my arms around her neck. "Let's leave these for tomorrow yeah I think an early night might be in order for the two of us." I say winking at her and kissing her lightly on the lips before moving out of the hug and pulling her towards the bedroom.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you it's not nice to tease horny pregnant women?" Naomi asks as I pull her up the stairs certain that her eyes are at present firmly glued to my buttocks.

"Yeah she did. She also taught me it's not nice for respectable women to do the things I plan to do tonight to other women so I sort of chose to ignore all of her advice." I say stopping as we reach the top of the stairs to turn my head and throw Naomi a wink. The look on Naomi's face is priceless her mouth hanging slightly open eyes bugling wide I can't help but let out a little laugh at her reaction to my comment.

"Right there babe?" I ask as she still hasn't moved a minute later.

"Yeah fine, I was just thinking how glad I am that you don't take your mothers advice. Although that one piece about pregnant women you should take my advice on that." She says starting to move again but not towards our bedroom.

"Where you going?" I ask puzzled as to why she was heading the wrong way. "I thought I was the one with memory loss and I still know this is the way to our bedroom." I say pointing towards our door pulling on Naomi's hand so she'll follow me.

"Just want to check on Kelly babe, I'll be there in a minute I promise." She informs letting go of my hand and moving towards our daughter's room. I stand for a moment watching her before making up my mind and following her. I remember that I hadn't actually helped tuck Kelly in tonight. I'm relived when I stand in the doorway and see she's fast asleep. I walk over to the side of the bed kneeling down and placing a soft kiss to her forehead and brushing her hair gently.

"Love you my baby" I tell her quietly before returning to the door and Naomi's side.

"Happy?" I ask hoping she's satisfied that Kelly's fine and we can retire to our room.

"Yeah, sorry Ems just had a little trouble getting her down earlier needed to know she wasn't having a restless night" she explains taking my hand and intertwining our fingers before quietly exiting the room leaving the door half open.

"You never, ever have to apologise for loving our daughter" I say leading her down the hall reaching up to flick off the hall light outside our door. Naomi's free hand covers mine before I have the chance.

"She wanted it left on babe, made me promise I wouldn't turn it off before she'd go to sleep." Naomi explains as we continue walking into our room.

"She ok that's a little odd isn't it?" I ask knowing that in the time I could remember that hadn't happened. She needed her Nemo night light but never insisted on having the hall light left on for her.

"Yeah she's fine her night light just wasn't working for some reason it's ok I promised we could go and pick a new one tomorrow" Naomi explains.

"Your amazing you know that" I say pulling her towards me and locking my lips with hers before she has a chance to answer. I let my mouth caress and explore hers in a way I've come to enjoy immensely. I remember our first kiss in middle school it had been nice and exciting I mean it was the first time I'd kissed a girl. It had nothing on this though. It was like the more I learned about this adult Naomi the more I was attracted to her. Back then I liked her because I thought she was beautiful and mysterious. Now I knew she was and kind, caring, loving and the best wife and mother anyone could want. She was also incredibly fucking sexy. There are so many things I want to do to her but at the same time I was nervous. Scared that I wouldn't be enough, I was after all in my mind completely inexperienced. I just hoped some of what she'd used on me last night would satisfy her as much as it had me. I push her backwards onto the bed landing on top of her. I have to pull away from her lips to giggle as we continue to bounce up and down for a few seconds.

"You're amazing too, just for the record" Naomi says tucking some hair behind my ear and kissing me gently on the cheek before nudging her nose into my neck. She then inhales heavily, making a contented sound as she does so.

"Did you just sniff me?" I ask amused by her actions. She inhales once more before pulling back to look at me.

"Depends" she states pursing her lips at me. "Do you find it cute and affectionate or creepy?" She asks trying to put on her cutest face. She must of have been taking some sort of lessons off of Kelly because she's pulling it off almost as well as Kel does.

"I think you're adorable and sexy and I want to show you just how much" I say leaning in and nibbling on her ear inhaling her scent just as she had mine. I feel her shiver in anticipation of what exactly it is I'm going to do to her.

"Satisfied I'm not selfless now?" Naomi asks several hours later. I laugh at her comment. I'd felt the need to take control tonight and when I had her naked and laid before me I couldn't help but want to touch everything. She'd allowed me to explore lying back on the bed making small noises of encouragement whenever I got something particularly right. I'd made her orgasm three times before she even had the chance or energy to remove my bra. Even then she'd only had about ten minutes of touching my body before my need for her had consumed me again and I'd rolled her over and ravished her several more times. I thought I discovered the most amazing feeling in the world last night when Naomi had explored my most intimate parts, now I wasn't so sure. Having this amazing steadfast women lose herself in my touch it just made me feel so power, not to mention it was a huge turn on. I'd explored her body letting myself discover all the questions I'd always wondered about sex. At one point, during a lull I'd allowed for her to regain her floating mind, she'd sobbed in my arms apparently happy she had her wife back and overwhelmed with all she was feeling. She'd been a little embarrassed tried to shy away from the feelings. I'd just kissed her and held her like I knew she would for me.

"Think I might have being the selfish one there Hun." I say pulling her closer to me so our noses are touching and we're breathing the same air. "I just, I needed to feel every piece of you, I need to know you as well as you do me." I explain trying to let her understand my intense passionate behaviour.

"Oh believe me you know my body better than I know it myself. That" she says raising her eyebrow to demonstrate what she was talking about "was indescribably good" she says kissing me lightly.

"Good, well on that note I think it's time for sleep we have a little rugrat that will be in here in a few short hours and I'd like to gets a little shut eye before she is." I say giving her a last peck before closing my eyes, nose still pressed gently against her's.

"What about you Ems?" she questions causing me to let my eyes flutter open again.

"I don't know if you noticed or not but that large wet patch on your thigh, you look mighty fit when your aroused." I reply closing my eyes once more.

"So you got off on me?" she asks her tone a little confused.

"More than once" I fire back a cheeky smile spreading across my lips. Despite the fact my eyes remain shut the close proximity allows me to feel as one spreads across her face too.

**There we go another chapter. Hope you enjoyed it and thanks for all your feedback and your ideas about the job offer. Hope there weren't too many errors in this I'm terrible at proofing my own work. :)**


	21. Chapter 21

I look at the pile of emails in my inbox all waiting to be read and answered. I swear the invention of email just created more work. Not that I know what life was like before it but I suggest it would be more relaxing. People would only plague me with their questions and queries if they thought it important enough to warrant a letter or phone call. I really did enjoy my job well most parts of it anyway. Staring at a computer screen all day wasn't something that I enjoyed. I take a sip of my tea and settle myself in for a long day in front of the computer. I click on the first email in my box letting out a loud moan as I notice it's at least five pages long. If all of them are this huge it's going to take me longer than I thought. I slowly read through the information in front of me making it through two paragraphs before I feel the need for another sip of tea. Just as I am about to return my cup to its place on my desk a movement in my stomach startles me. I'd been having odd feelings which I assumed was the baby for a while now but this one was different. I place my mug on my desk and lay my hand on my stomach waiting for the movement again. Sure enough a few seconds later there is another strong movement that I feel it not only on my insides but also against my palm. A huge smile spreads across my face unable to control my delight at feeling my baby making itself known. I stand up from my desk excitedly. I grab my keys and handbag intent on getting home as quickly as possible to allow Emily to delight in this new development with me.

Just as I'm closing the door to my office ready to sneak home and back without detection I'm busted by my boss.

"Naomi just the woman I was looking for" he says smiling at me.

"Simon" I return turning to look at him fairly certain that guilt is written all over my face.

"Naomi don't look so worried I just wanted to let you know that the board wish to meet with you tomorrow concerning your decision about the New Zealand project" He explains.

"Ok thanks Simon, I actually look concerned because I was about to sneak home for a bit. The baby just kicked for the first time and I have a feeling my wife would kill me if I didn't give her a chance to experience the sensation first hand" I confess hoping it hasn't ruined my chances of escaping for half an hour.

"The first kick eh, I remember that fondly with my son. I also remember your Emily barging in here pregnant with Kelly insistent that she had to see you 'this instant' despite the fact you where in an important international meeting." He says laughing a little at the memory. "That wife of your really is a firecracker and I wouldn't want to get you in trouble with her" he says giving me hope that he'll let me slip away.

"Yeah your right about that she's one of a kind my girl" I acknowledge.

"Well that meetings at 9am tomorrow. Feel free to bring your family I know whatever your decision is it must have been one involving all of you." He says.

I like Simon I really do and at this moment he reminds me why. He's a genuinely nice guy. He's always been incredibly accepting of my sexuality and my life despite the fact that his age and upbringing would presume the opposite. He's a very adaptive and accepting man who has moved with the time and truly cares about his employees. "Thanks Simon" I say smiling "Now if it's not too much trouble I might just sneak home for half and hour and fill my wife in on our latest developments."

"Nonsense Naomi, there's nothing pressing here. Like I said there is a meeting tomorrow 9am don't be late as far as I'm concerned your work is done for the day." He says winking at me and moving to walk away.

"But I've only been here an hour" I reply a little confused "and I have an inbox full of emails to read and reply."

"Like I said no pressing matters Naomi. I know what it's like all those silly email requests. If any of them had any real pressing issues they'd pick up a phone and call. Go home stay there for the afternoon see you tomorrow." He says walking away to finalise his request. He knows I'll argue with him but gives me no option to without his presence.

I guess I can't complain about that, more time with my family is always a bonus. I hurry to my car, praying that baby will perform for his Mumma, as I climb in and strap the seatbelt across my producing stomach. I've gotten use to assuming this baby is a boy despite the fact that our appointment to find out that fact isn't until tomorrow. Kelly had been very sure of the fact that her baby brother Bradley was growing inside me and her conviction had caused my own.

"Em's, Kelly" I yell when I open the front door. "Emily quick come here" I shout louder as I feel the baby move inside me again.

"What's happened is everything ok?" she says uncertainty in her voice as she rushes to the front door. I can understand why she might be worried I'm home from work after only been gone for an hour and I'm shouting through the house like a mad woman. I don't answer her question instead I take her hand and place it on my stomach where I just felt the movement. I hold it there a minute waiting patiently hoping it will happen again. She looks at me puzzled for a moment before a wide smile spreads across her face and she pulls me into a kiss, hand still firmly pressed on my stomach. She then pulls away from my lips leaving me wanting more. She kneels down in front of me pulling my shirt away and placing a warm kiss against my bare stomach.

"Hello baby how's my little man today?" she asks quietly against my skin. I'm about to respond to her question in cute baby voice to make her laugh when our son responds in his own way, kicking gently.

"There's my clever little man" Emily says followed by a kiss "Mumma loves you little man" she continues smiling against my skin.

"Mummy" Kelly says interrupting our moment.

"Hey Kelly" I say smiling down at her as she runs into the doorway with us.

"Why you home?" she asks looking at me and Emily before laying her head against my stomach like her mother trying to figure out exactly what's going on.

"Ahh what that?" She asks pointing to my stomach as the baby moves and taps against her head.

"That's your baby brother Kelly" Emily fills in for her "Mummy came home so we could feel him moving."

I watch her as she looks at my stomach for a minute eyes crinkled and mouth pursed in thought.

"Wow" she says smiling "Come see my painting Mummy" she finishes obviously not as phased about the development as Emily or I.

I help Emily to her feet again and we follow Kelly to the dinning room table. Emily's laid out an old table cloth and brought out all the paints. There are at least ten different colours spread out across the table.

"See Mummy we paint Kiwi" she says pointing to her painting. I look at the colourful splodge on Kelly's page and the proud smile she's wearing at her effort.

"It's beautiful darling" I say causing her smile to grow wider.

"What about mine?" Emily asks gesturing to her purple and yellow kiwi. I have a sneaking suspicion Kelly might have chosen the colours for her.

"Your one is beautiful too darling" I say again kissing Emily on the forehead as she settles in beside me resting her hand on my stomach apparently eager to feel our baby move again.

"I really like the colours you used Ems they look lovely together" I compliment further feeling a tug on my shirt as Kelly tries to get my attention.

"Yes Baby?" I question looking down at her.

"I choose them for Mumma" she states screwing up her eyes and mouth in the most adorable gesture.

"Aww is that right my little Munchkin, well I think you made a very good choice." I state picking her up off the floor to join in on what I guess could be called a group hug.

"So maybe you two can fill me in on why exactly your morning has been spent painting kiwi" I say moving into the lounge and taking a seat on the sofa with Kelly. Relaxing as I feel Emily sit down beside us and wrap her arms around us both.

"Do you have time to talk now babe don't you have to go back to work?" Emily asks brushing some hair from Kelly's forehead and placing a kiss on it just because she can. I smile at the gesture thinking to the future and the new addition that will be with us soon enough.

"Nope" I reply "Simon told me to take the rest of the day off. I'm home to hang with my girls."

"Yay" Kelly shouts excited by the prospect of a lazy family afternoon that we indulge in far too often.

"Awesome" Emily affirms and though her voice doesn't hold the excitement that Kelly's does her eyes show me she's pleased about the prospect.

"I'm glad your both pleased, now who's going to tell me about what you've been up to this morning?" I ask looking at them expectantly.

"Well we've been doing some research about New Zealand haven't we Kelly?" Emily says causing Kelly to nod her head enthusiastically.

"That sound interesting" I state looking at Emily with suspicion "But why would we need to be doing research about New Zealand?" I ask. I think I can see where this is going but it confuses me somewhat. Emily and I hadn't really discussed the offer since I had presented it to her last week. In my own mind I had come to the conclusion that it was the wrong time for us. I'd already thought up a number of ways to politely turn down the generous offer.

"Well I've been looking into New Zealand a little recently" Emily says looking at me guiltily.

"Is that right and what exactly has your research discovered?" I ask feeling myself getting a little excited that Emily seems to be considering accepting our offer.

"Well it has a population of about 4 million, there are loads of sheep, Kia Ora is a greeting in the Maori language, they are the natives of New Zealand, and most importantly the Campbell-Fitch's are going to be spending two months there" she finishes looking at me for a reaction.

"Really" I ask both surprised and excited by Emily's announcement.

"Really" asks Kelly mimicking my question.

"Yes" Emily confirms bright smile taking over her face as she looks at us. "I've done a lot of thinking Nai and I think it's the right thing for us. I've talked to my work and they understand. Of course they can't keep my job open for me but I think we'll be ok for money." She states causing me to laugh and nod in agreement. "After my chat with Katie I had a few snippets of memory just titbits of my daily work life and it's really not my dream job. I've also been doing some research about how safe it is for you to be flying. You'll be pleased to know that it should be fine for you to fly at the start of your 7th month but we should make sure we check up on the airline policy before booking our tickets." She explains over whelming me somewhat. Apparently while I'd come to terms with the fact that we would be remaining here for the foreseeable future Ems had been carefully planning our departure. I look at her in amazement unsure of what to say. My face must be unusual as she is looking at me worried.

"Naomi, Naoms, please say something your scaring me" she says leaning closer trying receive some response from me.

"We're going to New Zealand" I half ask half say looking at her for confirmation.

"We're going to New Zealand" she confirms nodding "well if you want to of course" she adds leaning her head on my shoulder and looking up at me through her eye lashes.

"We're going to New Zealand" I confirm a smile spreading across my face as I do a very similar one gracing Emily's mouth.

"Yay" Kelly squeals from my lap. The baby then kicks several times indicating that he too wants a share in the family excitement.

**Well there we go sorry it took a little longer than usual. Hope you are all pleased with the family decision. Thanks once again for all the feedback it really does make my day. :)**


	22. Chapter 22

"Aunty" Kelly says excitedly as I open the door to my sister and who I can only assume is Mark.

"Dis my Brother" she announces proudly as she holds up the sonogram we'd given her at the doctors appointment this afternoon.

It had been a pretty fabulous day actually. We'd started our morning at Naomi's office. The board had been as pleased as a bunch of suits can be about her acceptance of the job; so pleased in fact that they'd shouted us lunch at an expensive but child friendly restaurant. Then Naomi's conscience had meant she felt the need to go back work for a few hours. Kelly and I had entertained ourselves with some very important imminent travel shopping. We'd brought the cutest Finding Nemo suitcase for Kelly. When Kelly had seen it she'd been so excited I couldn't help but indulge her cute little face. I had no intention of being one of those Mothers who spoiled their children so that the answer no meant nothing to them. On the other hand giving my little angel something she wanted every now and then wasn't an issue.

The best part of the day came next. The appointment with Dr Graham informed us that Kelly was right. Naomi was indeed carrying a baby boy. Kelly who'd come to the appointment with us had giggled happily at the news. She'd been mesmerized by her brother on screen, so much so that Dr Graham had printed her off her very own picture. She'd been carrying it round proudly and talking to Naomi's stomach since.

"Wow" said Katie bending down to Kelly's level to look at the picture. Good job she did too, I had the feeling that Kelly wasn't letting the picture out of her sight. I'd been looking at it with her earlier and she'd been very careful to keep it in her hand at all times.

"Hi, I'm Mark" says the man standing in the doorway. I remember my manners realizing that my daughter and son aren't the only people in the world.

"Hi I'm Emily, Katie's sister obviously, nice to meet you" I reply giving him a smile and surveying him. He looked nice enough handsome in a clean cut way. He had a genuine smile and open happy eyes. On first impression I had to approve of this new guy in my sisters life, though I'd be keeping a keen eye on him tonight to make sure she was in good hands.

"Shall we move into the living room?" I ask noticing that Katie is standing up from her crouched position holding Kelly.

"Yeah sounds good Ems. Sorry for being so rude this is Mark, Mark my sister and Kelly my niece." Katie says gesturing to both of us as we make our way into the lounge.

"Sort of got that far Katie" I say earning a small smile from Mark as we sat down. Me on one couch Katie, Kelly and Mark on the other.

"Sorry" Katie apologises again "Look at that though" she says gesturing to the picture Kelly's holding. Mark leans in closer squinting as he tries to make out the baby in Kelly's picture. I smile I find it amusing watching people trying to find babies in sonogram pictures. I'll admit the first time I went to the appointment with Naomi I had a hard time making out the baby. Both Naomi and Dr Graham had been lovely though taking time to help me see. Once I did recognise the form of the baby I found it hard to believe I couldn't see it in the first place.

"Wow" Mark says after a few seconds. I have a feeling he can't actually see my son in the picture and is just humouring my sister who is clearly excited about it.

"Dis my brother" Kelly pronounces confidently clearly intent on sharing the information with anyone who will listen. "Who you be?" She asks looking at Mark intensely eyes crinkled, eyebrows drawn together and lips pursed with a finger resting on them.

"I'm Mark, I'm a friend of your Aunty Katie's" he says smiling at Kelly. She takes a second to consider this still trying to figure out who he was and if she should trust him. She looks at both Katie and I for a second looking at the way we were clearly undisturbed by his presence.

"My name Kelly" she says once she's decided that he poses not sort of threat. "good meet you" she continues holding out her hand to him. Just when you think she can't be any cuter she goes and does something like that. I'm guessing she was watching this morning as Naomi and I were greeting her work board. I'm fairly sure she hasn't done it before at least, well that I can remember which I guess isn't saying much. Mark of course smiles and takes her small hand and shakes it as carefully as he can.

"It's lovely to meet you too" he replies.

"Sorry Babe just making sure dinner was all cooking properly." Naomi says coming into the room and taking a seat next to me.

"Hey Katie, Mark" she says looking at the people on the couch as Kelly quickly climbs off Katie's lap and throws herself down between Naomi and I gently placing her head on Naomi's stomach.

"I see how it is" Katie says sounding mock offended by the gesture. Naomi doesn't seem to have noticed she's looking intently at Mark, much has Kelly had done earlier. I'm about to ask her if she's ok.

"Wait Mark, Mark Hansen" she says suddenly throwing her hand in the air as if she's finally figured out the problem she was trying to solve.

"Yes" he says looking at her closely as if trying to figure out the same thing.

"You remember young leader's camp in London we were like" she squints her eyes thinking for a moment "12" she finishes looking at Mark for confirmation that he remembered.

"Wow Naomi Campbell how could I ever forget you, that right hook of yours gave me this bend in my nose." He says turning his head so we could see the slight bend that was present in his nose. Katie and I both look at Naomi mouths slightly open very surprised by what Marks just said.

"You broke his nose" I ask looking at Naomi. Kelly seems unfazed by the whole thing head still lying on Naomi's stomach as if she's listening to her baby brother muttering quietly every few seconds.

"Well yeah but to be fair we were friends then he just threw himself at me and kissed me. I didn't like it so I pushed him off and punched him. It's not like I meant to break his nose." She says causing Mark to laugh.

"Yeah you always were a tough one. The whole thing actually made me like you more we were inseparable for the rest of the week." Mark explains.

"Apparently you like feisty women" I says raising an eyebrow at my sister. She pokes her tongue out in response.

"Naomi how is it you managed to have all these people throwing themselves at you?" Katie asks looking to Naomi who's running her hand gently through Kelly's hair.

"I don't know" she replies shrugging her shoulders as she does "ask them" she says gesturing to Mark and I.

"I don't think I would've been throwing myself anywhere near you if I'd of known about 'Naomi the nose breaker'. I'd of been dead scared you wouldn't like it." I say causing everyone to laugh.

Naomi leans in close to my ear "I like everything you give me love" she whispers quietly her breath warm against my ear. "Except maybe that time you gave me food poising lets not relive that" she finishes kissing my check as she moves away I giggle slightly at he statement.

"So Campbell why did you resist my charms all those years ago, I got the idea you had your eyes on someone else, am I right?" Mark asks and I look to Naomi curious as to what her answer would be.

"Apart from the fact you smelt like feet and hotdogs, I did already have my eye on someone and it turned out pretty well too for that matter" she says putting her arm around me and smiling widely.

"You had your eye on Emily already. That makes my 12 year old self feel a little better, I mean who can compete with a Fitch" he replies looking adoringly at my sister who just giggles.

"That was amazing Naomi" Mark says pushing his chair slightly out from the table and rubbing his full stomach. The two of them seem to be getting on very well. They'd been chatting all throughout dinner Katie and I barely having a chance to get a word in. I might be a little worried about it if Naomi didn't have her hand in mine under the table. She also kept sending me these little looks that told me I had less than nothing to worry about. Besides in between the conversation Katie and I were having I'd caught pieces of theirs and it was all about work. Both of them it seems had a passion for the environment.

"Glad you enjoyed it" she replies putting the last mouthful of her dinner into her mouth.

"Is your Mum as good a cook as this Kate because we're off round there next week aren't we?" Mark asks causing the rest of us to laugh.

"Mums are the kind of dinner you eat well before going to" Katie says ones her laughter's died down. "Speaking of which when are you going to let her know that the big bad wolf is running off with her only granddaughter for 2 months?"

"The big bad wolf?" Marks asks confused by Katie's statement.

"That's me" Naomi says raising her hand "Self nickname though I'm sure it's what she used to call me behind my back. We're on better terms now, probably not when I inform her of that fact though. I was actually thinking we could just leave and not." Naomi jokes cheeky smile on her face.

"Naomi" I say smacking her arm playfully.

"Man I'm really looking forward to meeting her now" Mark says.

"Mate you'll be all good. You're a good looking well respected male she'll love you without even needing to say anything" Naomi assures.

"She's right" Katie agrees "I mean how could she not?" she asks bumping shoulder's with him affectionately.

"Right" Naomi says standing up from the table. "It's time for bed Rugrat, looks like your about to fall asleep on your plate."

"Have to?" Kelly asks looking at Naomi with tired eyes.

"Yeah come on baby" she says picking her up.

"Shower?" Kelly asks yawning and rubbing her eyes.

"You can have a bath if you want one Kel" Naomi says bringing her round to my seat and passing her over for a pre bed cuddle.

"Shower with Mummy and Bradley" she says as she kisses me goodnight.

"Mummy's going to have a shower tomorrow baby girl. You can have a bath now or a shower tomorrow with Mummy" Naomi reasons.

"Morrow" Kelly says after thinking for a second "with Mummy and Bradley" she adds. "Love you Mumma" she finishes giving me one last kiss before Naomi take her back.

"You got a kiss for you Aunty too?" Naomi asks our almost asleep daughter. She nods and holds out her arms as Naomi walks over to Katie's chair.

"Night Kelly" Katie says kissing her on the forehead.

"Night" Kelly replies.

"Thanks for tonight guys" Marks says as we show him and Katie to the door. After Kelly had been tucked into bed by Naomi we'd had some fun playing wii. Naomi and I had taken on Katie and Mark in a pretty intense tennis tournament which had ended in a win for the visiting team.

"No problem, it was great to meet you" I say "I think we're going to need a rematch on that tennis, we'll have to do it again sometime"

"Definitely" Katie says hugging me goodbye.

"Bye guys" Naomi says wrapping her arm around my waist and waving as the two leave the house.

"Gosh" Naomi says slumping against me as the door shuts "it's been a long day."

"Yeah it has babe, come on lets get you to bed." I say leading her towards our bedroom.

"Will you tuck me in and read me a story" she asks causing me to smile.

"Nai" I ask snuggling closer to her warm body under the blankets. We've been in bed for about half an hour but I've got too many thoughts and I can't sleep.

"Nai" I ask again kissing her shoulder that's wrapped tightly around me.

"Yeah" she says fatigue evident in her voice.

"I was just thinking and I think I was thinking too much and I freaked my self out" I say quickly.

"What's bothering you?" she asks.

"Well I just, what if our son's gay?" I ask realising that, that didn't come out quite the way I had meant it too.

"Em's I don't think we need to worry about that quite yet and besides we won't care about our sons sexual orientation we'll love him no matter what." She says yawning onto my neck as she finishes.

"Yeah course I love him, it's just I mean besides you breaking a boys nose when you were 12 neither of us have any sort of experience with dating boys. Who would teach him the stuff he needs to know?" I ask. I can see my 15 year old son in my mind telling me about the boy he likes and having no clue how to help. I feel Naomi moving behind me and realise she's laughing.

"You think this is funny?" I ask annoyed at her for laughing at something I see as a serious issue.

"No, I'm sorry' she says trying to stop herself "It's just we had a very similar conversation when we found out Kelly was a girl. I started freaking out that she might be straight and who would teach her about boys" she explains kissing me gently.

"I'm going to tell you exactly what calm and collected you told me during my freak out. If our son needs any sort of advice about boys or anything else we might not know he's got lots of people to turn to. There's Katie and both his grandmothers. If he needs manly advice he's got your dad and brother plus all of our friends and by the looks of things Marks going to be around for a while." She reasons. "The point is our son just like our daughter has so many people who already love him and will help him in any way they can"

"You're right" I say nodding feeling a whole lot better. I guess I was just tired and freaking myself out with irrational thoughts. I just wanted the best for our son, Kelly to of course. For a second I got carried away and decided I wasn't good enough. Having a level headed partner to even you out at times like these was what you needed. I'm just lucky I had one of those.

"I usually am, though those are your words of wisdom this time" she says causing me to laugh.

"Modest too" I say craning my neck to place a kiss on her lips.

"Always" she says into the kiss.

**Hoped you liked it let me know. **


	23. Chapter 23

"No, I want them all" Kelly yells hand on her hip, pout on her lips and eyes narrowed at me and Naomi.

"Baby girl we've explained why you can't take them all you need to choose two or three of your favourite books to take to New Zealand" Naomi explains calmly as I stand by not quite sure what to do.

"Mumma I want them all" Kelly states looking at me with expectation. Gosh she really was a clever one. I don't think I learnt to play my parents off against each other until I was at least 7.

"Kelly" I say trying to stay as unaffected as Naomi at our daughter's emotional outburst. I guess she just has more experience with them than me. "Just like Mummy said you need to choose some of your favourites. We can't take them all baby girl" I say looking at her bookcase full of books. She had at least a hundred at my best estimate, she really did love reading and apparently we'd indulged her. I could see why it was hard for her to make the decision, all of them or at least the many I remember reading so far, were great stories.

"No want to go" Kelly says tears beginning to roll down her face as she turns from us and begins to pull books from her shelf throwing them on the floor. I look to Naomi at a loss for how to react. I wanted to yell at her to stop and get angry but I knew that wasn't the answer. My anger wasn't going to stop her. She was only two well almost three and she couldn't communicate the excited and scary feeling the same way Naomi and I could. She had a right to be scared but I wasn't sure how to deal with it.

"Kelly I can see your angry now but I hope you don't ruin your books. Mumma and I are going to go pack our own books when your ready to talk we'll be in our room." Naomi says getting up from her place on the floor and walking towards the door grabbing my hand to indicating I should follow.

"How are you so good at that? How do you stay so calm?" I ask Naomi as we make it to our room and I slump down onto our bed. She lays down next to me pressing a gentle kiss to my lips and taking my hand in hers.

"The secret is" she says leaning in close to whisper in my ear "a beautiful wife who teachers you."

"I helped you with that?" I ask surprised by the idea Naomi seemed like such a natural.

"Yeah, well I guess you listened to all my rambling about human rights over the years and when we had Kelly you sort of fed it back to me in the context of our daughter. You helped me to translate my ideas about all humans to her. We also got some really good advice from your mum. We basically looked at what she did and made sure we didn't do it." Naomi explains. I can't help but laugh at that comment.

"You think she'll be ok?" I ask a little worried about the state we'd left Kelly in thinking she might hurt herself in anger.

"If I know our daughter I'd say she'll be in here in about two minutes to talk to us." She says looking at me with reassuring eyes.

"Two minutes you reckon" I query shuffling closer to her and kissing her lips I let myself relax into the sensations for a moment. I smile into the kiss still fascinated by the fact I'm allowed to do this, by my life. I have been gaining a few random snippets of memory every now and then but it was three months since my accident and my memory was still the equivalent of a few random apple trees in comparison to an orchard.

"Mmm" I say pulling away knowing we're in no situation to takes things any further right now. Other than our grumpy daughter just down the hall there were the pressing issues of the last minute packing.

"Where did the last month go?" Naomi asks looking at me brushing the hair out my face gently.

"Well" I say unable to stop a smile from spreading across my face as I think about the tornado that has been the last few weeks. "Someone spent a lot of time eating disgusting concoctions of food. I mean really babe cheese, tomato and chocolate toast?" I say letting out a laugh. Honestly that was one of the more friendly combinations she'd consumed. I'd been doing a fair amount of the cooking over the last month just because neither Kelly nor I were to keen on some of Naomi crazy inventions.

"Hey shut up, if I recall rightly a lot of time was also spent lazing round in bed with no clothes due to someone rediscovering the joys of sex" she says squeezing my hand.

"Sorry are you calling me the instigator here. Do I look like a horny pregnant women because I believe there is only on e of those in the room." I shoot back kissing her cheek.

"Whatever" she huffs "scary thing is that we haven't even reached our sexual peek yet, actually that doesn't sound so scary after all" she says pulling me close to her as we lay sideways across the bed legs hanging over the side.

"What else has to get done?" I ask hoping we could just stay here for a while knowing that the fact our plane leaves tomorrow probably means it's not a possibility.

"Not too much babe between all the fun activities we have actually sorted everything out. Just the last minute packing to go and perhaps a hour or two talking to and reassuring Kelly about the whole thing" she replies making me relax a little further.

"Mumma, Mummy" Kelly says just as I'm about to ask if we can stay here for a bit. Guess Naomi had been right. She climbs up snuggling herself so her back was pressed firmly against my front and her face was in Naomi's neck.

"Why's my girl crying?" Naomi asks kissing Kelly's head and waiting for an answer. It takes a while for Kelly to consider her question and come up with an answer. Naomi takes my hand in hers as we wait placing our joined hands on Kelly's shoulder.

"We go and not see Nana and Grandma and Grandpa and Aunty Katie" Kelly explains once she's had time to think.

"Yes we are going away Kelly but only for two months. We can still talk to everyone on the phone and on the internet and we'll be back to have a big family Christmas with everyone." Naomi explains trying to reassure Kelly. She'd actually been quite excited by the whole idea as far as I knew. I guess those last minute jitters were setting in for her. Honestly I couldn't blame her they were setting in for me too.

"Why you not sad Mummy?" Kelly asks as if it might provide the answer to her not being scared either.

"Well I am a little but you" She says kissing Kelly's forehead "and your Mumma will be there and I think the three of us can do anything together." She really is a cheesy git sometimes, a cheesy git who knows just the right thing to say to reassure both me and Kelly. I know my life's not perfect I mean nobody's is but she does a pretty good job of making it amazing. I'm not going to lie during this whole getting ready to move phase we'd had a number of fights. The first was really scary for me. I guess it's like what people in a new relationship feel when they have their first fight. You feel like the person won't love you anymore because you've disagreed. It had been worse than my first fight with Kelly. I mean children loved their parents unconditionally at least until they got to the age where they realised they weren't super hero's. I remember all the shit my mother put me threw and yet I never stopped loving her. Naomi on the other hand had no obligation to love me. She chooses to love me to make it work with us. While I knew she might not be able to just magically stop loving me she could stop trying and gradually fall out of love. Our fight had ended fine of course. It was after all for a silly reason that a month later I can't even remember. Naomi had found me half an hour later crying in front of the television. She'd laughed when I'd told her that I thought she might not love me. She'd kissed me and told me some of the many reasons she loved me. Had also pointed out that all these things were still true and always would be. Of course we'd fought a few times since then but I was ok with it because after the first I'd realised it's just what couples do. I definitely preferred when we weren't fighting.

"Yeah" Kelly responded to Naomi's words. "You and Mumma help me choose books please?"

"Course we can baby girl and you know what I was looking through my books and I don't need to take any so you can choose two extra and I'll take them in my suitcase for you" Naomi says earning an enormous smile from Kelly.

"You right babe?" I ask slipping into bed beside Naomi. I felt relived everything was finally sorted. We were all packed after a few more negotiations about how many and what toys Kelly could bring.

"Yeah" Naomi says though I don't think she means it. I've been relearning my Naomi skills especially over the last month and I could tell something wasn't quite right with her.

"Just got off the phone with Katie she'll be here at 7.30 to take us to the airport" I tell her hoping that the thing that's bothering her will emerge through our chat.

"That's great" Naomi replies moving to switch of the lamp on the night stand. I grab her hand before she can stroking it gently. I bring it to my lips and kiss it.

"Not so fast babe before we go to sleep I want to know what's bothering you. You've spent all day talking with our daughter and now it's your turn to share."

"Its nothing Emily I'm just tired and I'm a little anxious about the plane. Unlike you I'm not huge on flying, to be honest it actually scares the crap out of me" she explains with a giggle. I laugh with her.

"Aw beautiful, intelligent, amazing and scared of flying, good to know you're not completely perfect and you are scared of something."

"I'm scared of lots of things actually. Most of them involve unspeakable occurrences happening to my girls" she explains seriously looking at me with open fear.

"Which particular one is troubling you right now Nai because this isn't just about flying. Talk to me babe." I say laying my head on her chest. It had become my favourite place to rest it during these pre sleep chats.

"I'm just worried this isn't the right thing for us. I mean I'm really looking forward to it. I'll love the work and the country is amazing. It's just I'm worried about you and Kelly. What are you going to do, you won't know anyone and I'm scared you'll hate me for doing this to you." She says emotion present as her voice threatens to crack.

"Naomi" I begin moving so I can look her in the face. "First of all I couldn't hate you anymore than you could hate me. I helped make this decision and I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be summer our temporary house is right on the beach and you will have weekends free for us to explore endless tourist attractions. Babe it's going to be amazing." I reassure kissing her cheeks and lips as I see tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Promise" she asks looking very vulnerable.

"Promise" I assure pulling her into my arms and kissing her forehead reassuringly. "Anything that involves the two of us has to be" I say causing her to chuckle a little.

"I'm sorry" she says a few minutes later once she's managed to compose her self. I look at her in disbelief that she would be apologising for this.

"You don't have to be sorry babe. You're allowed to be cry and confide in me. Actually it makes me feel good. I feel like you've been so good to me through all the shit that been going on. You've just been so strong and amazing and I like that I can do the same for you. I want to be able to do that for you and Kelly too. We're partners Naomi Campbell and you don't get to apologise for showing me your weak side. I like all sides of you." I say causing a smile to spread across her face.

"Fitch" she says wiping the tears from her face and kissing me. "Naomi Campbell Fitch."

Naomi jiggles her leg anxiously up and down gripping my hand a little too tightly. We had been in the air for a while now but the pilot had just warned of turbulence and Naomi hadn't taken the news well. Kelly on the other hand who I'd been worried about was fully relaxed tucked in beside me in the lovely business class seats Naomi's work had paid for. She was carefully colouring in with some of the pens they'd given her in a kids air pack. At least with her settled I could focus on Naomi who looked like she was about to wear a hole in the seat with all her shuffling. I lean in close to her kissing her cheek then pulling back so my mouth is next to her ear.

"Relax" I say quietly. "Shut your eyes and relax. Maybe you could think about being wrapped up in our warm bed." I feel her begin to loosen her grip on my hand and breath at a slightly more relaxed pace. That quickly goes away though when the forecast turbulence begins. Naomi tenses up even tighter opening her eyes and looking at me in panic.

"Close you eyes" I said again "You're wrapped up safely in our warm bed."

"What's that then" Naomi questions as the plane moves abruptly again.

"It's just Kelly and I jumping up and down on the end. We're trying to get you up but you want to stay in bed a little longer" I make up hoping it will allow Naomi to focus on the story and not on the fact she's hundreds of feet above the ground.

"You right" I ask. It's been about an hour since the turbulence and I seemed to have clamed Naomi down enough that she was almost enjoying herself. We were playing a game of cards with the ones they'd given Kelly.

"Yeah, you're a pretty good distraction" Naomi says winking at me as she plays her card.

"Mumma" Kelly says alarm in her voice. Causing us to break our gaze and look at her. She had her hand held up towards us and there was blood on two of her fingers. There was also a little bit of blood visible under her nose.

"It's ok sweetie you've just got a bleeding nose, Mumma will take you to the bathroom to clean it up." I say thinking that this might be a situation for me to deal with.

I lift Kelly from her seat and shuffle past Naomi who looks a little worried. I'm unaware if it's about Kelly's nose or being left alone. I figure it's a combination of both.

"We'll be back in a second" I say getting a nod from her.

"Won't stop Mumma" Kelly says holding the toilet paper to her nose. She seems a little worried about it to be honest I'm not surprised. We'd been in the toiler about 5 minutes trying to tidy it up but the blood was still coming.

"It'll be fine darling lets go back to Mummy she might be able to stop it" I say hoping Naomi got some sort of trick up her sleeve, though doubting it's likeliness.

"Sorry we were so long I was trying to stop my daughters nose bleed" I explain as we make our way out of the bathroom and see a man waiting.

"No problem, see you didn't have any success there" he says gesturing to the still slowly bleeding nose.

"Not stop see" Kelly says holding up her piece of bloody toilet paper. I expect the man to cringe and back away but instead he takes a step closer.

"Mind if I take a look?" he asks "I'm not a weirdo or anything just a doctor. I might be able to help" he explains looking at me for consent.

"You got to be careful" Kelly answers leaning her head back so the man can get a closer look.

"Have you been picking your nose kiddo?" he asks after a few seconds.

"Sometimes I do" Kelly replies nodding.

"We I'd say you've just picked a little much in one area. It's nothing to worry about. Can you do this for me" He says putting his fingers on either side of the top of his nose and pressing gently. Kelly copies him apparently trusting him.

"Good job sorry what was your name?" he asks.

"Kelly" she replies her voice slightly different from her finger on her nose.

"Ok Kelly you just need to hold it like that a little longer. I'm Jake by the way." He states smiling at me.

"Emily" I reply smiling back.

"Nice to meet you, ok Kelly you can take your fingers off now" he tells her and we both watch as she does.

"Wow" I say seeing that he's manage to make it stop. "Thanks"

"No problem" he replies broad smile still in place.

"So Kelly is your Daddy on this flight with you" He asks Kelly.

"No he's not but her Mummy is" I hear Naomi say behind me.

"Oh lovely to meet you" Jake says slightly taken aback as Naomi wraps her arms around me from behind.

"Sorry who are you?" she asks with just the right amount of tact that it didn't sound rude.

"I'm Jake I'm a doctor I was just helping Emily here fix Kelly's nose bleed." He explains.

"Seem Mummy no blood" Kelly says pointing to her nose.

"That's good sweetie" she says nodding "thanks for your help" Naomi says politely. "Ems can we go back to our seats now, I came to find you cause I was worried and the baby got scared with you not there."

"Sure you don't mean you got scared Nai?" I ask cheekily.

"Yeah whatever" she huffs.

"Thanks again Jake" I smile as I leave seeing him eye our family with a questioning look in his eye.

"Yeah anytime" he says.

"Finally" I say as we pull into the driveway of a small nice looking house.

"Mmmm" Naomi agrees from her seat beside me a sleeping Kelly leaned up against her.

"Thanks very much for the ride, guess I'll see you Monday" Naomi says as we carefully climb out the car. She was thanking the woman who picked us up at the airport and drove us here. It was one of the people who she would be working with over the next two months.

"No problem Mrs Campbell Fitch. Also I was informed to let you know the things you requested were sorted and should be in their correct locations."

"Awesome thankyou" Naomi says smiling, as much as she can through tiredness.

Kelly wakes up as Naomi carried her through the front door. Upon entering I can see it's a nice house, a little smaller perhaps than what we're used to, but nice.

"Come on Kelly lets go see your bedroom shall we" Naomi says walking down a hallway as if she knows the house.

As we walk into the small room Kelly's eyes grow wide and she squeals in delight. There is nothing special about the way it's decorated it's a plain furnished room with a single bed. The thing she's excited about is the fairly large fish tank in the corner. Naomi puts her down as she runs over to it, sleepiness clearly gone at the sight of her very own Nemo and Dory.

"Look Mumma" she says excitedly pointing to them. I can't help but smile as both Naomi and I walk over to get a closer look and examine them together.

It's half an hour later, when we've helped her name her fish, that she's calmed down enough to tuck into bed. I must say I'm quite pleased we'd arrived at night time. We could go to bed now and begin the process of adjusting to the new time zone. I was absolutely buggered.

"I didn't know anything about a fish tank being part of this house" I say as Naomi and I grab our suitcases from outside the door and make our way towards our own room.

"Yeah I might have had something to do with that" she replies cheeky smile on her face. "Just wanted to keep my girls happy here. I mean we didn't even have to get off the plane before Kiwi guys started moving in on my wife and kid, need to keep myself in the game. If I was you I'd be looking in our room seeing if your prezzie is as good as hers."

**There we go chapter 23. Hope you enjoyed it sorry it took a little longer, Uni work and all that Jazz. I wonder if anyone is getting bored of the happy family. I like writing the cheesy loving family relationship but could be open to writing in a little drama if its wanted. Let me know. :). **


	24. Chapter 24

"Seriously" Katie screams making a ridiculous face that I see on my computer screen. "If I'd of known years ago Campbell would be such a great wife I might have been nicer to her" Katie says laughing to herself.

"Yeah right you would" I bite back sarcastically. "Anyway that's not all" I continue smiling widely at her through the computer screen.

"Really your wife bought you more than just a brand new Macbook Pro. By the way the two of you already had one of those." Katie throws back a hint of jealously in her tone.

"Yeah well she explained shes going to need to take it to work and write up things and stuff. She wanted me to be able to talk to you and everyone at home whenever I wanted." I explain.

"If I didn't know your wife better I'd say she was feeling guilty for doing something she shouldn't have. Instead she's just a sappy git who likes to make you smile. So spill bitch what else did your perfect women buy you." She asks amusement in her voice as she looks at me expectantly.

"Well she got me a book about starting a non profit organisation and just for good luck she also got me some pearl earrings." I say smiling as I point to my ears.

"When you guys come home I think we need to get Naomi and Mark to go gift shopping together. Mark might be able to pick up on your girl's talent for it."

"Yeah well wait till you see what she got Kelly." I say picking up the computer from the breakfast bar where I'm sitting and carrying it down the hall.

"Hey Kell" I say walking into her room where she is playing with her lego. "Want to show your Aunty Katie what mummy got you?" I ask turning the computer round so she can see Katie's face.

"Hey Kelly" I hear Katie say happily "How's my favourite two year old?" 

"Me almost three" Kelly asserts holding up three fingers awkwardly with much effort, if her face was anything to go by.

"I know sweetie, that's super exciting. You want to show me what your mummy got you?" I hear her ask as Kelly nods enthusiastically and get up from her place on the floor. I follow her as she walks over to her fish tank and stands proudly next to it.

"See I gots a nemo and a dory fish" she says pointing to each of her fish as they swim around the spacious tank. Naomi didn't let who ever had picked this up for her do a half hearted job. She'd told them to get tank decorations and everything. There was an intricate shipwreck on the bottom of the tank along with fake coral and colourful stones.

"Wow that's amazing" my sister's voice sounds from the computer in my hands. "Have you picked out names for them Kel?" she asks genuine interest portrayed in her voice.

"Yup" Kelly says nodding "that one named Nemoily and that one is Dorelly" she announces proudly. I hear my sister laugh at the names.

"Those are lovely names Kelly" she says as Kelly nods happily at the screen.

"Ok I'm going to talk to Auntie in the lounge now baby you want to come or say goodbye to her?" I ask giving Kelly the option.

"I stay here Mumma bye Aunty Katie" she says waving at the computer screen.

"Bye" Katie says as I turn the compute back around towards me and carry it back to the kitchen, placing on the breakfast bar as I shuffle back into the stool.

"Right now I want to know what's going on with you sister. How are things back home?" I ask.

"It's been like three days since I've seen you Ems so not much. Not all of us flew halfway across the world. Although having the keys to my sister's house is pretty nice" she teases.

"What have you done Katie?" I ask hoping she's only joking.

"Well I did find a somewhat questionable DVD when I was looking for something to watch. I must say that's not something I want to see my sister doing again"

"What were you doing watching DVD's?" I ask voice coming out several octaves higher than it normally does as I feel my face blushing red.

"Ha I actually wasn't" Katie laughs "just wanted to see the sort of reaction I'd get. You dirty little minx Ems though I knew you and Campbell probably had a stash of home videos somewhere. The look on your face, bloody priceless I'm telling you. Jokes aside though the house is fine, I'll collect the mail today and I'll keep an eye on everything" she promises.

"Well I would thank you but considering you're being a bitch we'll just leave it as even" I say causing Katie to poke her tongue at me.

"We could call it even but just remember who's got the keys to your house and cars until you return" she shoots back making a very valid point.

"You wouldn't"

"Wouldn't I?" she challenges.

"Kaattie" I whine.

"Corse I wouldn't Sis. Where's that wife of yours she's not still at work is she, it must be like 6 o'clock there." She asks looking puzzled as she tries to figure out what the time here would be.

"No she's home arrived about three quarters of an hour ago kissed me and Kelly then fell asleep on the couch. Think the first day might have got the better of her. Plus what with the baby and still adjusting to this time zone" I explain.

"Aww you and Kelly seem to be doing ok" Katie points out.

"Yeah when Naomi left for work we went back to sleep for another couple of hours, guess she deserves a nap on the couch. She's looks so cute look" I say carrying the computer and turning it so Katie can see her. She's conked out on her back hand rested on her stomach.

"Sorry Ems but I don't find your wife cute, probably a good thing though." She says with a laugh. I turn the computer back round to face me.

"Yeah I guess. Anyway I should probably finish preparing dinner for my family. Before passing out Nai managed to mumble something about stuffed potatoes and I think there about ready to get a stuffing. Think what we have in ours will be different to hers though. She requested tuna, garlic and jalapeno stuffed potatoes. Cravings really can be disgusting. I get to sleep in a bed with that" I say screwing up my nose at the thought of her breath.

"Yeah but she's been through all this with you Ems. When you were pregnant for about a month all you would eat were eggs and cheese sandwiches. We both know what shocking wind they give you." She points out making me cringe at the thought.

"Yeah guess you have a point Katie" I agree

"Yeah well I'll let you go be all domesticated; besides I have to get to work soon. See you later Sis" she says waving at me.

"Bye" I reply waving back.

"You took a while in there babe everything ok?" I ask as Naomi slides into bed next to me. 

"Mmmm" she says kissing me softly several times. "Just brushing my teeth multiple times and rinsing thoroughly with mouthwash."

"You do taste minty fresh" I say smiling at her as she leans in to kiss me again.

"Good" she says in between kisses "because I intend on kissing you many more times tonight." I wiggle closer to her stroking her cheek as I lean in and let my lips join with hers again. I loose myself in the sensation feeling everything and nothing all at the same time. Despite Naomi's disgustingly potent dinner kissing her was sensational. I let her lead the way as she obviously had particular intentions for us tonight. I definitely wasn't going to complain; wherever it was going I could tell the journey was going to be a good one.

"Fuck" Naomi sighs as I settle back into her side kissing her cheek as I do.

"Think we just took care of that Hun" I say winking as she looks at me through half closed eyes. Though I had let Naomi lead the way tonight I certainly hadn't held back in finishing things off for her. She opens her mouth as if she wants words to come out but she takes a few deep breaths before she seems able to do so.

"Did you get another memory Ems cause you um wow" she says her eyes getting wide as she remembers what I'd done, apparently unable to put it into words.

"Well I did have a somewhat x rated dream last night and I wasn't sure if it was fact or fiction. After carrying out some research I think it's safe to say it's a fact." I inform her as I run my hand up and down her arm. She's about to reply when a loud noise interrupts her train of thought. I look at her, eyebrows raised in question. He face proves her guilt as does another fart that escapes her.

"Naomi you may have freshened your breath up, but babe your behind still stinks" I say amusement in my tone.

"Sorry" she says looking at me with wide eyes. I could tell she was slightly embarrassed by it.

"Its ok" I say snuggling my nose into her neck grateful as I am graced with the sweet scent of her perfume. Despite the fact it's been on all day it still smells amazing. In fact I would say it smells better than when she first put it on. During the day her natural scent seemed to merge with the perfume combining perfectly to create the most amazing scent. I breathe it in deeply hoping her perfume scent will overpower that of the unpleasant one.

"Ems" she says contentment audible in her tone.

"Mmm" I hum still enjoying her warm neck, soft skin and perfumed scent.

"So for Kelly's birthday on Saturday I was thinking we could take her whale watching. I stopped in at the information centre on the way home and they have tours in a place about an hour away." She explains looking at me trying to gauge my reaction. I ponder the though for a minute. It does sound like a great idea. Kelly has a huge interest in sea creatures.

"Sounds like a great idea Naoms" I confirm seeing her relax as if relieved by my response.

"Great because they had a special running and it was ending today so I booked us in for a 10am whale watch on Saturday. It's about a two hour tour apparently" she informs me.

"Is that right, well it's lucky you thought up such a good gift then isn't it otherwise you would be in trouble." I say playfully tapping her shoulder trying to bury myself deeper in her neck.

"Hmmm I consider myself very lucky" she confirms pulling my closer into her embrace her baby belly pressing against my stomach. "I was hoping we could think of something else to get her too. I was thinking some more fish for her fish tank but as we're only here for two months it doesn't seem worth it. I mean I think we're going to need to get a matching one when we get home anyway. It's been three days and she's already quite attached to it. Might even have to get Katie to do a bit of a sneaky job so she thinks we've brought Neomily and Dorelly home with us" she points out letting out a small chuckle at the names.

"Yeah and what were you thinking" I ask as I wiggle my hand in between our stomachs so my palms resting against her baby bump.

"He loves you already you know" she says not answering my question. I'm confused about exactly what she's talking about until I feel the baby moving against my hand. "He always gets active when he hears your voice, Kelly's too. He already knows who the most important people in his life are. She kisses my head resting her face there inhaling my scent just as I am hers. We stay silent for a while enjoying the feeling of being wrapped up in each other and the warmth and comfort of our bed. Just as I feel like I'm about to drift off she speaks again.

"I don't have any ideas for another present Ems hoping you'd have an idea" she tells me taking my free hand in hers.

"Mmm well I know she's too young for makeup, still a bit young for her first car. What about a puppy babe? She loves Oscar and we have talked about getting her one. I know we're only here for a couple of months but we could take a dog home with us. Dogs love the beach and it is right there. Kelly and I have heaps of time right now to train and walk a dog." I say hearing the excitement in my own voice. When Katie and I were growing up one of the few things we could agree on were that we wanted a dog. We'd never been allowed to have one. Katie of course now had Oscar and if we got Kelly a dog we could look after it together.

"I'll let a dog in the house but I draw the line at having one sleep in anyone's bed" Naomi says a harshness to her tone.

"Does that mean yes?" I ask feeling my face stretch into a smile as I think I know what she's saying.

"Yeah" she says nodding into my head "It's a great idea Ems. But cleaning up doggy poo is totally all on you. I mean I can barely bend over with my belly." She says letting out a laugh.

"Whatever we're a team and if you get to make those sort of claims I going to say you get to change all the dirty nappies" I retort awaiting her reply to see if I'd won.

"Ok we're a team' she agrees "But only because I have a feeling that a puppy's going to toilet train a lot quicker than our son."

"What sort of dog are we going to get her Naoms" I ask knowing I'd always wanted a Golden Labrador and that I had a serious dislike of most little yappy dogs.

"Well we'll have a whole afternoon after whale watching how about take our girl to the pet store and let her choose" she suggests.

"I think that's a great idea" I reply nodding into her neck.

"Good" she says wriggling a little to get a bit more comfortable, both of us settling into silence as we drift of into blissful sleep.

"Mumma" Kelly says as we sit down to breakfast.

"Yes sweetie" I reply as Naomi sits down next to us stealing a piece of bacon off my plate and putting it onto hers. I give Naomi a look as I gesture to her already full plate. She just smiles at me and winks taking a bite of it. I turn my attention back to Kelly.

"We go see whales and dolphins?" she asks causing both me and Naomi to stop eating and turn our full attention to her.

"Did you hear mummy and I talking last night baby?" I ask wondering how our daughter knew about our plans. We hadn't been talking loud; in fact it was a soft intimate conversation.

"No me dream we see whales and dolphins and then I get a dally dog" she says innocently eating another mouthful of her scrambled eggs.

"A dally dog" Naomi says apparently unaffected by the fact that our daughter appeared to be dreaming about the future.

"Yep just like the ones Cruella try to make into a coat." She explains helping me realise she's talking about a Dalmatian. I'm still unsure about how exactly to respond to this. I mean she did tell us Naomi was having a baby boy but she had a fifty percent chance of being right didn't she. Of course when we found out it was a boy it was like we had to call him Bradley. This was different Kelly was claiming she'd dreamed that we'd be seeing whales and dolphins and she'd be getting a Dalmatian. Was it even possible for people to know about things before they happen? Fuck what was I meant to think when my daughter started making predictions about the future that I knew would probably come about. Right now I felt like the only way I could deal with this was to assume that she'd heard Naomi and I. Though I found it highly unlikely as she'd gone to bed several hours before us and she'd have to have been just outside the door to hear us. Or perhaps she had super sonic hearing, again it was highly unlikely. Right now I'd stick with the highly unlikely because it was still in my book a whole lot more probable than Kelly being a medium or clairvoyant or whatever you called someone who saw the future. I looked to Naomi to see what she was thinking. She looked like the whole thing wasn't freaking her out as it was me.

"That sounds like a nice dream baby girl, guess we'll just have to see if you're right" she says taking my hand in hers, apparently aware I wasn't dealing with the situation as well as she was.

"Maybe you can tell me and your Mumma more about your dream later. Right now I have to get ready for work though" she says continuing to eat her breakfast.

"Ok Mummy" Kelly says nodding happily. I sit silently looking between Naomi and Kelly. My gaze settles on my daughter who's happily feeding herself. I know she's special, I mean she's my baby, but could she really be that special, was it even possible. I guess just as Naomi said we'll have to wait and see.

**Hey Guys thanks for reading hope you enjoyed it. Glade to hear you're all enjoying happy families still. It's really great to hear your thoughts. Some of you would like to see some light drama so guess we'll have to wait and see. **

**Kelly, what do you reckon? Is it possible she's got a special gift or has she just been listening to things she shouldn't and letting her imagination run wild? Hope to hear your thoughts. :)**


	25. Chapter 25

"Hey baby girl why don't you come over here and help me tell Aunty Katie all about our trip" I ask Kelly. She's currently on the floor trying to mediate a friendship between her Dalmatian puppy Chessie and Katie's dog Oscar. She'd decided when she got her puppy that she looked a bit like the chess boards she'd seen in shops. Emily and I certainly hadn't ever played it. Despite this it was the reasoning behind Chessie's name.

We'd arrived home from New Zealand two days ago. Now after finally recovering and readjusting to our home life we were visiting Katie to show her the pictures and have a catch up. Course the bit she was most interested about was what we'd bought for her.

"This my birthday boat trip, see whales" Kelly says climbing onto my knee and pointing to the photo on the computer screen.

"Yeah it was heaps of fun wasn't it baby girl. Do you remember what else we saw?" I ask looking at Kelly as she thinks. Katie sits beside us looking at the photo before looking to Kelly to hear her story. I'm sure she had seen and heard about it before what with facebook and skype. Despite this she looked like she was really interested and eager to hear Kelly's story.

"Seed four dolphins one of them was a baby he was little like Bradley" she fills Katie in. "And the whales go whoosh" she says making motions with her hands of the whales spurting water out their blowholes.

"Wow that sounds pretty exciting Kelly" Katie says. Kelly nods.

"Yip I love whales I wanted to get one for my fish tank but Mummy says they too big" Kelly informs us causing Katie to let out a slight laugh. Kelly really was a little entertainer, most of the time without even knowing it. Her verbal language was well beyond that of most of her peers. She started talking quite early too. I think it because we were constantly talking to her. We've always treated her like she had something important to say and respected the small decisions we let her make. I guess these things had influenced her desire to talk and our modelling had encouraged her. Despite the knowledge that children do learn because of the relationships and interactions they have, sometimes I just look at her and she amazes me. I feel so lucky to have such a bright beautiful young daughter looking at her mother gave me similar feelings of awe and pride.

"I think your mummy was right there Kels your fish tanks a little small for a whale" Katie says.

"Yeah, but Mumma and Mummy gots me some little tetra fish to live with Nemoily and Dorelly" Kelly points out. Emily and I had decided to get her a fish tank like the one in New Zealand. Katie had been kind enough to have it sorted when we got home. I didn't feel good lying to her so we'd let her know they were new fish. She'd been fairly happy with the idea, especially since we had given the New Zealand ones to our New Zealand neighbour Doris. She was a lovely older woman who had formed a strong relationship with Kelly. The two of them got on so well that it allowed Emily and I to have a few nights out on our own over the two months. It was nice to have someone we could trust with Kelly. It was also nice for her to have someone other than the two of us. Doris also had two grandchildren one was 6 and the other 10 and when they visited they would fawn over Kelly. She loved the attention and had an amazing time playing with the older children.

"They sound pretty neat sweetie I will have to come and see them one day soon" I hear Katie reply reminding myself to tune back into her and Kelly.

"Yip" she replies tapping the arrow on my laptop and bringing us to another photograph.

"That when I got my Chessie" Kelly informs Katie as we look at the picture of her and her Emily and the puppy sitting together on the lawn. It was about 5 minutes after we brought Chessie home.

The experience of getting Chessie was a bit of a drama. We'd called into the pet store the afternoon of Kelly's birthday. She had her heart set on her 'delly' dog so when we'd looked at the puppies and seen no Dalmatians I was anticipating a bit of a tantrum. After all Kelly was so convinced she was getting a Dalmatian today I was sure she was unwilling to deal with the alternative. Emily had asked Kelly which puppy she liked, I hadn't been game, to afraid of initiating any upset. She'd manage to surprise me though she bent down and patted one of the golden lab puppies and said she like that one but she would be getting a dally dog so we'd have to look at the fish and birds now. I'd been confused by the remark and as Emily took Kelly to look at the budgies and cockatiels I'd approached the counter. I asked the woman behind it if they happened to have any Dalmatian puppies or knew where we might get one. I have received the no I'd expected as an answer. I returned to my family who were now looking at the gold fish. I had then softly told Kelly that there weren't any Dalmatian puppies here and she might need to choose a different dog.

"See rest of fish first Mummy" she had said taking my hand and pulling me over to show me the neon tetra. We'd spent another 10 minutes observing all the different fish tanks.

"You ready to choose a puppy now sweetie?" I had asked hoping that while we had been looking at fish she had been thinking about which one she wanted.

"Yip" she said looking towards the door where a lady was walking in. She was wearing gumboot and a baggy bush shirt and carrying a cardboard box in her arms. I watched as she walked towards the counter hearing excited barks coming from the box.

"Want one of those ones" Kelly had said pointing at the box and walking towards the counter like the lady was.

Long story short the woman had had three Dalmatian puppies in the box. Kelly had been so happy. She'd spent ten minutes petting and talking to the dogs. Finally she choose the smallest of the three, apparently the runt of the whole litter. She really was a beautiful dog and the smile she put on Kelly and Emily's face put an even bigger one on mine.

"This one of Mumma bunny jumping" Kelly says as we reach one of Emily bungy jumping off a bridge. I couldn't believe she'd done it, I certainly wouldn't have but I didn't have to tell her that. Being pregnant was my excuse with out having to say I was just too scared. I was scared enough when she did it.

"Wow I can't believe you did that Ems" Katie says looking over my shoulder as I feel Emily rest her hands on my arms. She's been in Katie's kitchen making dinner for all of us.

"Was a lot of fun" she replies as Katie looks past us again presumably at someone else who's entered the room her face breaks into a smile. One that I presume means it's Mark. Form what Emily's told me the two of them are pretty serious.

"Hey Mark" I greet as he joins us at the table, kissing Katie softly on the lips before taking his seat.

"Hey Naomi, Emily, Kelly" he says looking down at the table avoiding making eye contact, I'm also fairly certain there is a slight redness to his cheeks. I turn my head to look at Emily wondering if she has also noticed his strange behaviour. Looking at her only puzzles me more as I notice she also looks slightly embarrassed.

"Going to sit down Ems?" I ask figuring that I would observe to figure out exactly what going on here.

"Yeah" she says pulling the chair next to mine out and taking a seat. She pushes the seat right up nest to mine so our legs are touching.

'You ok Sweetie" I whisper in her ear. Katie and Mark seem caught up in there own conversation and Kelly's still on my lap flicking through our holiday photo's for entertainment.

"Yeah fine, whys that" she asks looking at me confused.

"You look a little flustered is all" I reply running my fingers over her forehead to smooth the worry lines.

"I'm good, I miss the sunshine and beaches in New Zealand but I'm glad we're home." she explains smiling at me.

"Yeah, me too" I reply leaning in to kiss her pulling away quickly as my lips touch hers. 

"What's wrong" she asks frowning as she sees the apparently startled look on my face. I look at her and then Mark and back to her and she seems to understand what I'm talking about.

"So Mark" I say interrupting his and Katie's conversation. "Any particular reason you found the need to kiss my wife?" I ask seeing his eyes widen in fear as I look at him sternly.

"I I I didn't know you were home yet. When I came in, I just um kissed her without really looking at her. Please don't hit me I didn't mean to. How did you even know?" he says hiding behind Katie.

"I'm a crazy pregnant woman Mark, you've just been at the pub and my ultra sensitive nose can smell it all over Emily. Plus she doesn't taste right, I've been kissing her for many years, I notice even the smallest difference." I say seeing him move even further behind Katie.

"Settle down you big baby. Naomi's not going to hit you, its not like she's never accidently kissed me before." Katie says making me remember something I'd like to forget. Emily's head whips round from looking at her sister to looking at me apparently eager for the story.

"Thanks for that reminder Katie, I thought that was something both of us agreed to forget, I mean it was one time. I can say without a doubt say that sober I would never get the two of you mixed up. Hell I could tell you apart 3 parts gone. That night I was under the influence of more substances than I've ever been under before and to be fair you were in Emily's bed. I mean my vision was practically non existent how am I meant to know that the person in Em's bed surrounded by her scent isn't her?" I ask reliving the night myself. I had disappointed myself a lot that night. I thought I'd never mix up my Emily and her sister but as a very drunk, stoned teenager I had proved myself wrong. It hadn't and never would happen again. Now I could tell my girl apart from a crowd of 200 of her clones.

"The thing you fail to mention Naomi is that the reason I was in Emily's bed was that you and Effy were in a drunken coma on mine." Katie bites back causing Emily and Mark to laugh.

"Mummy why you not have no vision?" Kelly pipes up from her seat on my lap, making me realise that I had perhaps said some things I shouldn't have around little ears who are far to smart for their own good. I mean most children her age wouldn't know what vision was. She on the other hand had learnt about it from a conversation with Doris who had been in for a vision test too have her driver's license reissued.

"Well my little Munchkin, Mummy did something she probably shouldn't of done and it made her feel particularly ill" I explain hoping the taming down of the truth would satisfy my daughter. Though it seems to have satisfied her Emily and Katie are both wearing matching looks of raised eyebrows at my statement. I poke my tongue out at them both and shrug. I can't help it if I'm a word wizard who can tell the truth while making it sound a lot better that it actually was. Hopefully one day when my baby girls all grown up Emily and I both can be a little more honest about these things. I hope that our experiences will be able to educate her to be safe and make the good decisions.

"So Naomi how's my nephew doing then" Katie asks doing a fantastic job changing the subject.

"Well we're off to see Dr Graham tomorrow actually but as far as I can tell everything is progressing nicely. I'm looking all whale like so that's a good sign. I swear I'm as big at 7 months as Ems was at 9 it's so not fair. Our boys going be a big baby" I voice rubbing my stomach smiling as I feel Emily's hand link with mine.

"Good we need some more big strong men in this family" Katie says sending a sly smile and wink Marks way.

"Hey our son can be whatever he wants to be. If he wants to be skinny and weak like his uncle James that's fine by me." I say causing Katie and Emily to laugh.

"Hey" Emily says pushing my shoulder "you can't say things like that about my brother when he's not here to defend himself" Emily says cheeky smile on her face.

"Yeah" Katie chips in "You'll give Mark the wrong idea he'll expect him to be bigger than he is. You made him sound average and let's be honest despite all his years on the naughty bar James muscle tone is well below average." Katie finishes resulting in the table's laughter again. Even the dogs join in barking excitedly and wagging their tails.

"Oh who's this?" Mark asks leaning down to pat Chessie, apparently noticing her for the first time since he entered the room.

"That's my Chessie" Kelly pipes up crawling from my lap to Emily's and cuddling into her.

"She's a beautiful dog Kelly, when did you get her" Mark asks looking at Kelly as she hides in Emily's neck. Apparently she's become all shy now, or she's just getting tired. Though I would suspect it's shyness after all she has only met Mark once and that was two months ago.

"You going to tell Mark when you got Chessie?" Emily asks brushing Kelly's hair from her eyes.

"Mmmm" she says looking at me and sticking her thumb in her mouth, apparently all of a sudden unable to communicate with anyone. I couldn't really blame her, I'd like to be curled into Emily's neck right now too, but I think that's the sort of thing only three year olds get away with I this situation.

"Mmmm" I say as I cuddle into Emily's neck inhaling her scent just like Kelly had been doing hours before.

"Happy to be in bed are we sweetie?" she asks kissing my forehead and snuggling down deeper into the embrace.

"Yeah" I say smiling at her before pulling away and lifting her shirt over her head and throwing it away.

"Babe you know we can't tonight" she says as I cuddle back down into her arms.

"Yeah I know" I reply though a yawn "I just wanted to feel your skin, it's all warm and soft. It's much nicer than your stupid shirt." I point out running my hands up and down her back as she does the same to my belly.

"You excited about tomorrow?" I ask a few moments later feeling her smile against my cheek.

"Which part, the doctors or the real estate?" she asks knowing we have two important things planned for tomorrow.

"Both" I reply shortly.

"Super excited, I can't wait to see how much our boy has grown since we saw him last. Plus the properties we're going to look at, this is like the first step to making my career dreams come true" she replies happiness oozing from her tone.

"Life's pretty good then" I say as I tickle her causing her to squirm under my touch and try and push me away.

"Pretty darn good" she replies through her laughter trying to restrain my hands so I'll stop my childish ministrations. She was right it was pretty darn good.

**Well there we go another chapter, hoped you liked it. Thanks so much for all of you who are still reading and enjoying hope there a still a few out there. Thanks fro those who are still reviewing and adding me to your alert. It really makes me feel good. If you've got any feed back on this one do tell. Anything you'd like to see would be great too. :)**


	26. Chapter 26

**Warning adult content in this chapter. ;)**

"Mmmmmm man I'm glad that's over" Naomi says leaning against the door she'd just seen the last of our guests out.

"Not a fan of the big family Christmas babe?" I ask taking in Naomi's weary appearance.

"I like Christmas and I love our family. All of them here together all day was a little overwhelming though. Just think if we had of spent an extra two weeks in New Zealand and we could have avoided it" she says a dreamy look in her eyes as she considers the possibility.

"Yeah, I had a great time though Hun and Kelly loved it, think she is going to be a bit jealous when Bradley comes along and she's not the only one being fused over." I say taking her hand and leading her towards the lounge. I pull her down onto the couch next to me. I did have a lovely day with mine and Naomi's family, but it felt good to be alone again. Kelly had passed out from exhaustion an hour early, all the sugar, food and attention taking its toll.

I cuddle into Naomi as much as is possible with her ever expanding stomach. I feel her sigh and kiss my neck. I look at the lights twinkling on the tree in the dimly lit room. It really is beautiful. I relax further into the comfort of the couch and the warmth of Naomi. The peace is amazing after a full house since 10am this morning. We had managed to have a special present opening before everyone had arrived. I smile at the thought. Then suddenly the only thing in my mind is a picture of me and Naomi going at it passionately beneath the Christmas tree. I concentrate on the thought and realise it can't be a thought of what I'd like to happen because Naomi is clearly not pregnant.

"Naoms" I question hearing the desire in my voice "have we ever shagged under the Christmas tree?" I ask. When I'd first lost my memory I would have feel unsure and embarrassed by asking something like that. Now I had no problems. I felt like I could talk to her about almost anything and it felt good. I feel her laughing in my arms learning round to leer at me.

"One of our better Christmas traditions, in my book anyway" she says pulling me in for a dirty kiss, nipping at my lip. Her hands move to my breasts swiftly, squeezing my nipples roughly through my shirt.

"Fuck babe" I moan as she moves her mouth eagerly to suck on my neck.

"Oh we're going to Em's. We've been all cute and loving around our family all day and right now its time for some dirty animalistic sex" she says eyes wide as she looks at me as if she wants to devour me. Which I'm pretty sure is not too far from the truth. Wow she's never been this intense in the times I could remember and I had a feeling it was going to be incredible.

"Nai, what if Kel wakes up" I say as she moves to pull my shirt off, taking my bra swiftly at the same time.

"She's so fast asleep she probably won't be up till 9 o'clock tomorrow" she says before wrapping her lips around my stiff nipple. It feels too good to assert anymore protest and I allow her to worship my body in the very passionate slightly rough way she appeared to have planned.

"I love you" she whispers huskily in my ear apparently unable to completely separate her physical desire for me from her deep love. I had to smile at the sentiment liking the fact that what we had was a whole package.

"Yeah I know" I say smiling at her "and I do believe you have much better things to be doing with that mouth of yours right now." I reply pulling her shirt over her head to even the playing field before pulling her back in and kissing her lips. The kiss is sloppy and tongues move nosily but it feels amazing. I feel like we're both just letting go unworried about what the other might think and letting our body fulfil desires. Well Naomi certainly is and if she was I was going to embrace it because her inhibition was, for want of a better word, hot.

I moan as she ends up between my legs, feeling her smile against me. I look down at her and she winks at me before proceeding with her plan. If her plan involved blowing my mind she was doing a damn good job of it. Just when I think it couldn't feel better she mixes it up or changes speed. It's like she's managing to get me both closer and further away from my peak.

"Hello" she says smiling at me as cheekily as she lays on top of me clearly proud of her efforts. She had a right to be too, she'd keep me just on the edge of an orgasm for about half an hour before letting me reach my peak. Oh what a peak it was, I was glad we were in the lounge because its far enough from Kelly's room that she shouldn't have heard me.

"You look pretty pleased with yourself" I say moving a little so we fit more comfortably. Baby Bradley was definitely taking up some room in Nai's belly.

"Yeah" she says laying her head on my chest. "when you make sounds like that I know I've done pretty good."

"Pretty good is a bit of an understatement babe" I say stroking her hair. Wriggling until our legs are intertwined and I can feel her warm wetness pressing against my own. I find her lips kissing her hungrily making sure she knows my intentions by pushing my hips into hers. She seems pretty happy about this moaning into my mouth and pushing back so we're as close as we can be. I'm just about to move down and start on her breasts when she pulls back looking startled. She looks down at my chest where her breasts had been resting. I follow her gaze a little confused by why she'd pulled away from me.

"What's wrong Hun?" I ask trying to pull her back to me. She struggles moving her body as far away as is possible on our couch. The only place where we remain touching is her baby bump and my belly.

"Fuck" she says voice distressed "I'm a fucking cow now" she says grumpily gesturing to her breasts. I finally realise what she's talking about. Her milk must have started to flow. Apparently she had felt it leaking on us; I had no idea with all the sweat and grinding distracting me.

"Come here" I say trying to pull her back to me. She looks like she's about to cry.

"But I'm all fat and milky" she says confirming my predictions as tears slowly roll down her cheeks. I decided I'm not going to ask this time and pull her towards me giving her no option but to come. She hides her face from me crying into my hair.

"Shhhhh Nai" I say stroking her hair. "You're anything but a cow baby. You're beautiful, so beautiful and I love you." I say as her tears keep falling and she sniffles into my hair.

"I love that you are pregnant with our son. It's good your producing milk because it will help our boy grow big and strong." I say kissing her forehead and running my hand over her belly, smiling as I feel the movements of our son.

"Plus" I say moving my lips closer to her ear making sure she can feel the heat from my breath. "It does make your tits look pretty mint. We all know I'm a tits and fanny girl Nai." I say smiling as she laughs at my words.

"I'm sorry for being a drama queen" She says vulnerability evident in her tone.

"You weren't being a drama queen babe, just acting like a hormonal pregnant woman. It's ok though because I heard a rumour that it's ok to act like a hormonal pregnant woman, when you are in fact a hormonal pregnant woman."

She finally turns to look at me face puffy and red but an amused look present.

"You're such a geek Ems" she says rolling her eyes at my words.

"Shut up" I say kissing her then pulling back and wiping away her tears. "Now if you're finished having a meltdown I was hoping to screw you senseless."

"Oh" Naomi says in response seemingly startled by my boldness. She recovers giving me a wide grin before pulling me in for a kiss, her tongue mingling with mine again.

"Just careful on the breasts babe they're a bit tender" she says into my neck avoiding eye contact, apparently still a little embarrassed. I'd just have to show her there is no reason to be.

"Mhhhh that's good" Naomi says leaning back against me as she lowers herself into the bath.

"Yeah sex and a soak in the bath really are the best way to finish an amazing Christmas" I reply. I relax against the back of the tub letting the hot water take away the some of the stress of the day. It had been amazing, but as there always is with family gatherings there was also drama. Surprisingly none of it had been my mother; she had actually been really great. She'd helped me and Naomi with preparing the meal and been the doting grandmother to Kelly. To be fair I think my idea of her is slightly clouded by me memory of her from when I was a teenager. I think Naomi's might be a little too. I mean they get on fine but I can tell the both of them are trying extra hard for my sake. Guess that should make me feel special.

"How's my boy doing today?" I ask resting a hand on either side of Naomi's belly. I've been spending lots of time touching and talking to Bradley trying to bond with him. Naomi keeps telling me he knows my voice and gets excited when I'm around but I'll take no chances.

"He great been kicking and moving all day. His mother on the other hand is sick and tired of everybody thinking they have the right to touch her stomach." She says causing me to take my hands away from their place on said stomach. She grabs them and places them back where they were.

"I'm not talking about you Ems. It's your right as my girl and his mum to touch me whenever you want, in fact me and Bradley both love it when you do. Don't we my baby boy?" She says covering her hands with mine. I smile as I feel Bradley move appearing to agree with Naomi's statement.

"You looked a bit uncomfortable when my mother was talking to her grandson earlier." I say remembering the startled look on her face when my Mum had cornered her on the couch and spent a good 20 minutes before I had managed to get away from an aunt to save her.

"Yeah she was one of the better ones, I mean she is his grandmother she does have some sort of right even if it is awkward. Your second cousin Steve on the other hand not so much. He reminds me of an older creepier version of your brother. I swear he was staring at my tits the whole time he was talking to me. Plus he stroked my stomach in more of a sexual advance than to greet our baby. Your Aunt didn't looked to pleased when I slapped him but I'm not going to have some prick drooling over me and thinking my baby gives him a right make advances" she says disgust in her tone.

"Yeah you had every right if you hadn't I would have when I found out about it. Plus it did get the crowds to start leaving, leading us to this blissful moment." I say kissing her neck and shoulder then resting my head there.

"Mmm yeah and not being here would be a tragedy." She says leaning back at a strange angle to meet her lips with mine for a second.

"You know babe I do love this whole carrying our son thing but at least when you were pregnant you didn't have random relatives fondling you. I mean my family's only me and mum and you didn't seem to mind either of us." she says causing me to laugh. She's right, I do have a rather large extended family and I think more than one of them are a little jealous of my hot wife. I guess up until now they've really had no excuse to touch her. Not that they had that right now but some of them seemed to think they did.

"Yeah some of my family are tossers. Speaking of which I meant to ask you why does Kelly dislike my grandmother so much?" I question. Kelly had jumped off my lap faster than I'd ever seen when Grandma had sat down to talk to me. She'd stayed well clear to. I'd seen her clinging to Naomi while Grandma talked to me and she had promptly returned to my lap once she left. I didn't expect the two of them to be best friends. After all I wasn't the biggest fan of my Grandmother she was for want of a better word a bitch. She believed what she believed and everyone else was wrong. I was fairly impressed my mother had managed to change some of her beliefs when I realised who she'd learnt from. At least she didn't seem to have a problem with Naomi and I probably the one belief I find appealing in her. Well to be fair I don't remember many of her other beliefs but I'm sure most of them are irrational and rigid.

"We let her watch Kelly one time. The bitch slapped our 2 year old daughter because she wouldn't eat the tuna sandwich she made her. Kelly was so upset about it. It's the only time anyone has ever punished her that way and she refuses to talk to her now. Poor kid won't even go back to her house. Not that I would let her anyway, nobody hit my daughter, she's a privilege to have around and if people abuse that they don't get the privilege" Naomi rants causing me smile against her shoulder.

"I love the way you're so protective babe" I whisper nudging my nose into her neck. I can smell the mixture of her perfume, sweat and Christmas dinner, it's a pretty good combination. I close my eyes letting myself really feel the moment. I didn't know if we had a moment like this before, I did know that this was one I didn't want to forget. I wanted to remember the way it felt and smelled and tasted. I kiss her skin gathering myself more information to store. I planned on staying like this as long as the warmth of the water would allow. I planned on remembering it forever.

"Why Mummy not come?" Kelly asks from her car seat. We're on our way to Naomi's favourite bakery to pick up a cake for her birthday tomorrow. I don't want her to know about it or the present we'll also be collecting so I'd been a little pleased when she had opted to stay in bed today. She was eight and a half months now and finding it a lot harder to keep up an active lifestyle with her massive bump. I remember thinking at Christmas time that she couldn't get much bigger than she was but the last month or so has seen her still steadily expanding. It was a good thing she was off work for a while because I doubt she would be able to perform her tasks as she is. Though she is somewhat of a super hero so I'm sure she would find a way to do it if she needed, proving me wrong would only be a bonus. Dr Graham seems fairly satisfied with the health of both her and Bradley saying tiredness was normal and to just do what was possible.

"Mummy's still in bed sweetie she's a little tired today. It's ok we'll see her when we get home." I inform Kelly who seems satisfied with my answer. She nods happily at me before turning her attention out the window.

The bakery is fair drive from our house so I was glad Kelly seemed happy observing the world. According to Katie it was about an hour and a half drive depending on traffic but it would be worth it. The bakery was in a small place called Bracknell situated between Bristol and London. Katie of course had been the source of all this information. Apparently the two of us had discovered it on one of our trips home from University after taking a slightly wrong turn. Naomi had declared the bakery to have the most amazing cheese cake she had ever tasted and so we had made it a regular stop when ever passing near by. Today of course not having these memories myself I'd had to programme the address my sister gave me into my GPS.

"Mumma" Kelly pipes up from the back seat.

"Yes Kel" I reply impressed that she's gone a full half an hour intently observing the scenery.

"I seed two white horses and then I seed a purple car" she says proud of her observations.

"That's great sweetie, are you ok back there you don't need to use the loo do you?" I ask hoping she's not to worried about the journey. She seems to be a fairly good traveller. She rarely complained or whinged on our long flights to and from New Zealand. The car travel we had done within the country hadn't bothered her either.

"No me good Mumma." She says as I see her smile happily in the rear vision mirror.

"I'm going to be a sister Mumma" she says to me a few seconds later.

"Yeah you are baby, your going to be a big sister to Bradley."

"Me be sister today" she says excitement in her voice.

"Yip you are a sister today and you'll be a sister to Bradley forever now, just like Mumma is a big sister to Uncle James." I reply happy that she's so excited about the fact. I just hope the excitement continues. We'd been warned that Kelly might be jealous and feel left out when Bradley was born. I wouldn't blame her right now she had the full attention of both me and Naomi, soon we'd all have another person to make time for.

"Me be sister today, Bradley be my little brother, Bradley be big and Bradley have red hair. He be my brother and he will play with my car with me and he like elephant." She says apparently enjoying making up stories about what her brother would be like.

"We're here Kel" I say as I pull into a park outside the bakery as by my GPS's demands. Kelly blinks slowly opening her eyes and looking up at me. She'd fallen asleep about forty minutes ago and looks up at me in surprise as the information we'd reached our destination. She holds her arms out to me and I pick her up enjoying her sleepy warmth as she cuddles into me trying to regain her senses.

"Bradley dog blanket" she says quietly into my neck.

"We're not going to give your brother Chessie's blanket when he's born sweetie. He'll get a brand new blanket of his own" I reply as we walk into the shop being greeted by the tingling of bells above the door.

"Green blanket" Kelly says nodding her head.

"Yeah that sounds good Kel we can get Bradley a green blanket. Right now we need to get Mummy her cake though." I reply making my way to the counter as an elderly woman makes her way through from out the back.

"Emily" she greet me with a smile and enthusiasm "How lovely to see you, is Naomi with you dear." the woman asks. Katie had failed to state that we were so popular at this bakery that we were greeted by name, by who I assume must be the owner of the establishment.

"No not today we're on secret business, we need to pick up one of her favourites for her birthday tomorrow." I say feeling rude that I can't address this lovely woman by name.

"Of course dear well your in luck I've just finished making a batch of berry, chocolate cheesecakes and it would be no problem to add some of the white chocolate piping that Naomi says makes it even better." She says smiling at me.

"That would be great thanks" I say looking round that store. It's got real character, there are cups and saucer sets all over the walls no set the same as another. There are mismatched tables and chairs far enough a part that each one has its own privacy. On top of the tables are intricate lacy tablecloths and on top of those are vases each with a different flower in it. I look to a table in the window that has a vase with tulips on it. I can suddenly see me and Naomi sitting there feeding each other cake. "Dorothy really does make the best cakes" Naomi says as we giggle and continue to feed each other. I smile knowing that this wasn't something I was imagining but a memory of one of our previous visits here.

"Yummy" Kelly says pointing to one of the cup cakes in the large glass counter. She right it does look yummy as do the numerous other treats on display.

"This is all ready for you Emily" who I now know is Dorothy says as she comes back into the front of the shop. "Aww your little Kelly's more awake now is she, hello sweetie and how are you?" she says smiling genuinely at Kelly.

"Me good" she replies "Mumma me want one those" she continues pointing to the cupcake. I'm about to tell her that because she's been very good we could get one to eat when we got home. Before I have a chance to vocalise that my phone begins ringing and I look at Dorothy apologetically.

"Hey Nai is everything ok?" I ask knowing from the ringtone that it's her calling.

"Ems you need to come home, my water just broke apparently Bradley thinks today is a good day to enter the world" she says. My mind begins racing, I'm and hour and a half away from home and my wife's going into labour.

"But he's not due for like another two weeks" I say not that it's a particularly helpful thing to say right now.

"Don't think he's too concerned about that now Ems. I on the other hand am quite concerned about my wife being here when our son arrives." She says causing me to panic.

"Shit" I say covering my mouth when I realise Kelly heard that. "Nai, I'll be there as soon as I can it's just that I'm about an hour and a half away" I admit hoping she'll take it well.

"What, where are you I thought you were just running some errands" she replies sounding upset by the information.

"Kelly and I were picking up a cake for your birthday so we're actually at our favourite bakery in Bracknell" I say biting my lip as I wait for her response.

"While that is a lovely thing to do Em's can you please just get home as fast as you can without putting you or Kel in danger. I need you here" she says sounding like she's about to cry.

"I'll be there as soon as I can Nai, I promise. Have you called Doctor Graham yet?" I ask trying to sort everything out. I wanted to hang up now and start driving as fast as I could back to Bristol but I needed to make sure Naomi was ok first.

"No I called you first, she shouldn't find out before you do" she replies.

"Ok well you need to call Doctor Graham then Nai. I'm going to be there as soon as I can but I'm going to call your mum and Katie ok so someone will be there with you until I get home" I tell her hoping she'll be ok with the plan.

"Ok" she says and I can hear her tearing up her voice an octave higher than it should be. "I just I need you to be here, you have to be here" she says desperately.

"I will be Naoms I promise, remember you told me I was in labour for 10 hours with Kelly." I say trying to reassure both me and her.

"Yeah" she says her voice small.

"Ok Nai I love you I'll be there as soon as I can call Doctor Graham yeah and then relax I'll make sure someone is there with you in a few minutes ok."

"Yeah ok" she agrees.

"Bye" I say

"Bye" she replies before hanging up the phone.

"Look I'm sorry Dorothy but I really have to go. How much is the cake?" I ask trying to hold Kelly and look for my wallet at the same time feeling very flustered.

"It's on the house Dear. I over heard bits of your conversation you need to get home to your wife, here's your cake and I've thrown in a couple of cup cakes and a celebration cake too" she says handing a bag across the counter to me.

"Thank you so much" I say grabbing the bag and rushing towards the door.

"No problem Emily, just make sure you bring that wife of yours and your children in fro me to see next time you're in the area" she says waving and smiling as I open the door. Kelly waves back at her from my arms.

"I will" I say smiling. I push speed dial two and bring the phone to my ear as we make our way to the car. It's somewhat difficult consider a bag of baked good is also in my hand but I need to sort this out now. I can't have Naomi at home in labour all by her self.

"Katie" I say as I hear someone answer.

"Yeah whats wrong Ems?" she asks able to hear the urgency in my tone in just the one word.

"Naomi, her water broke, I'm still in Bracknell. Please I need you to be with her until I can get home" I say probably sounding as close to tears as Naomi had a minute ago.

"Yeah of course Ems, I was actually on my way over there anyway. I needed to get her expert advice on a few things for work. That will probably need to wait till another day now I guess" she says. I don't want to hear about what's going on with her work right now. I want to know that someone's with my wife who's possibly experiencing high levels of distress and pain. "Just pulling into the drive now Ems, I'll look after her till you get here yeah, drive safe." She says and I hear a door open and close on her end of the line as she gets out the car.

"You shouldn't drive and talk on the phone" I say because I know she doesn't have a hands free set.

"Haven't we got bigger things to worry about right now? Get in the car and drive yeah, make sure you put your phone in your hands free Mrs Safety patrol." I smile she's right it was a silly thing to say I needed her to answer and she had.

"Ok bye Katie" I say realising that during our conversation I'd strapped Kelly into her car seat, put the bakery stuff in the boot and climbed into the diver's seat without even noticing.

"Bye Ems, Hey Naomi" I hear her say as she hangs up and I breath a little easier knowing that at least someone is with Naomi right now even if it should be me.

"You right Kelly?' I ask realising I had panicked and not actually told Kelly what was going on.

"Yip" she says smiling at me.

"Ok well we have to go home to Mummy now ok. Bradley is going to be born soon." I say looking at her before putting my phone in its hands free device and starting the car.

"I know" Kelly says apparently having understood most of my phone conversations and established the fact herself.

"Call Gina" I say to my phone as I pull out of the parking space. My phone dials and I hear ringing a moment later as I wait for my mother in law to pick up.

"Hello this is Gina, I'm unavailable right now, probably off protesting one of the great injustices of the world, I mean the state of the world these days, anyway please leave a message and I'll get back to you if your cause is worthy" I hear followed by an automated beep.

"Gina its Emily, Naomi's in labour and I'm on my way there but it's going to take me a while. Katie's there but I'm sure she'd want you there too. She'll be at home please get there as soon as you can" I say before hanging up my phone. I hope she'll be able to understand the message because I was talking quite fast.

"Mumma" Kelly says from the backseat while I drive as quickly as I safely can. I need to try and calm down a bit for Kelly. It can't be good for her to see her mother so distressed.

"Yes sweetie" I say as calmly as I can right now. In my head I'm wishing that there really was Hogwarts, that I been there and had the ability of apparition. It would be really bloody handy right now.

"Ok, we be home for Mummy, Bradley be born later" Kelly says. I can't help but smile at this. My three year old daughter trying to reassure me it really is priceless.

"I hope so sweetie, thank you for being such a big help to Mumma today." I say really appreciating how easy going Kelly was being.

"It ok Mumma, me love you" she says kissing her hand and sloppily blowing it towards me.

"Love you too sweetie" I say looking at her in the rear vision mirror. Just them my phone starts to ring and I break the eye contact as I answer.

"Hello"

"Hello Emily" I hear Gina's voice. "Is everything ok, I tried to listen to your message but being the ditzy old bird that I am I accidently deleted it." She says, if I wasn't so worried about getting home right now I probably would have laughed at that but instead I get straight into telling her what's happening.

"I'll head over to your house right now" she says after listening to the same thing I'd told her on the voice mail.

"Thanks Mum" I say pleased someone else I trust can be with Naomi in my absence. "I should be there in about an hour all going well" I tell her.

"Ok love I'll see you soon, bye" she says.

"Bye" I reply. Not 10 seconds after I've hung up does my phone begin to ring again.

"Hello" I say again as I answer the phone.

"Ems" Katie's voice comes through the line "I don't want to panic you more than you already are but since you talked to Naomi like forty minutes ago her contractions have been getting closer and closer together. If the strength at which she's squeezing my hand is anything to go by its bloody painful too, you need to get here Em's. She keeps asking when you're going to be here says she can't do this without you. Little tyke has other ideas apparently Doc says she's already 7 centimetres whatever the fuck that means but apparently she's progressing quickly. Little bit uncomfortable about being in the room with you wife's having her lady bits inspected" she says laughing good heartily.

"I'm trying Katie ok, I'm coming as fast as I can" I say knowing I'd be in tears if I wasn't trying to keep it together for Kelly. I couldn't remember the birth of my first child; I'd feel like utter crap if I missed the birth of my second.

"I Know Ems just get here as fast as possible without hurting yourself or that niece of mine ok?" Katie says.

"Its ok to hurt other people then?" I ask trying to lighten the mood.

"Try and avoid that too I guess if it's possible" she says laughing.

"Ok Gina should be there in a minute Katie, so you won't have to be the one getting their hand broken." I say.

"Ok I really don't mind you know" she says I and hear Naomi groaning in pain in the background. "Shit that sounds like she's having another contraction I better get back to her. I'll tell her you love her and all the mushy shit and that you'll be here soon" she says.

"Thanks Katie" I say before hanging up.

"Still ok there Kel ?" I ask putting my foot a little heavier on the pedal eager to get home as soon as possible.

"Mmm" Kelly hums on the edge of sleep again.

"Ok sweetie shout out if you need anything." I say hoping that her being asleep will let me focus on getting home.

"Mmmm" she says again.

"Hello" I yell as I open the door carrying a sleepy Kelly.

"Ems" Katie responds running down the stairs. She takes Kelly from me and gesturing upstairs.

"She's in the guest room" Katie says pushing me towards the stairs "don't worry about Kelly, we might go for a walk to the park eh Kel how does that sound?" I hear my sister ask as I run up the stairs. I can see why she was suggesting it. Naomi appeared to have just been hit with another contraction and the noises she was making might distress Kelly a little.

"No, I'm not pushing until Emily's here" I hear Naomi yell as I reach the top of the stairs and head towards the guest room. I walk in and immediately make my way over to Naomi kneeling down next to her. She's spread out on the bed. Someone's taken the time to spread a large plastic sheet out over it to protect it from the mess; they had also put down a few towels for Naomi's comfort. Naomi looks quite worn out sweat covers her forehead and she's wearing nothing but an old t-shirt with a pig on it.

"You're just in time Emily this thing's about to happen" Dr Graham says standing at the end of the bed between Naomi's legs. Gina is on the opposite side of the bed from me holding Naomi's hand. She smiles at me a look of relief crossing her face.

"Ems" Naomi says looking at me, I brush some of the hair from her forehead and kiss it.

"I'm here Nai, I so sorry it took me so long" I say.

"Naomi you're about to have another contraction, this time when the contraction hits I need you to push ok" Dr Graham says. She's right a contraction does hit a few second later, officially stopping our conversation. Naomi grabs my hand squeezing it hard as she pushes as hard as she can through the contraction. Tears stream down her face and she cries out in pain. I feel helpless, I'm so glad I made it in time but I don't know what to do now. The contraction finishes and Naomi loosens her grip on both mine and Gina's hands.

"It hurts Em, it hurts so much" she says looking at me. "I can't do it, I'm not strong like you, you're amazing" Naomi says trying to give up.

"I know sweetie, I know it hurts, but you can do this you're the most amazing person I know." I tell her.

"But I can't" Naomi moans.

"You can't Naomi, I think you can do anything. You need to push babe, don't you want to meet our baby boy?"

"Here comes another one, you need to push just like you did last time" Dr Graham says. "You're doing great Naomi" she adds.

"Yeah darling you're doing fantastic" Gina adds patting Naomi's arm.

Naomi sniffs looking at me for confirmation. I nod at her and take my free hand to stroke her cheek. She lets out another groan getting louder as the contraction continues.

"That's great Naomi keep pushing" Dr Graham says.

"That's it Naomi, he's crowning I can see the top of his head."

"Can I look?" I whisper to Naomi. I don't want to make her feel more uncomfortable than she already is but I want to get a look at our son as he enters the world. She squeezes my hand nodding. I kiss her hand still holding it as I move slightly so I can get a view of our emerging son. The sight shocks me a little. I can see why Naomi was feeling so much discomfort especially since she had refused any drugs. It was a mixture of disgusting, unusual and amazing. A tear comes to my eye as I see his head slowly appear as Naomi continues to push. I smile at the sight of our son and move back up to Naomi's head.

"You need to keep pushing babe. Our son's beautiful I could see his head. He's got little tuffs of orange hair Nai" I tell her causing a smile to spread across her tired sweaty face.

"Look at him" Naomi says cradling our son carefully in her arms. "He's, he's perfect" she says through tears.

"Yeah you're both perfect" I say moving onto the bed next to her. Our son wasn't even twenty minutes old yet but we were cuddled up on our bed at home. Dr Graham had checked over both Naomi and Bradley and given them both a clean bill of health. Gina after kissing each of us had left in search of Kelly and Katie.

"I love you Naomi, you did an amazing job" I tell her wrapping my arms around her kissing her on the lips. Then leaning down and kissing my son's head. This moment feels perfect, I'm with two people I love more than anything in the world, Kelly would be the only thing that could make it better right now. I stare down at the tiny bundle in Naomi's arms. He's wrapped in a green blanket with dogs on it that Gina had brought for him. She's also brought him a cute toy elephant, saying it was a grandmother's job to buy the first soft toy. He crinkles his nose in his sleep fussing slightly causing both me and Naomi to coo.

"Marry me" I blurt suddenly.

"What?" Naomi says looking up from our baby for the first time since he was born.

"I know we're already married it's just I can't remember it. This, this is so perfect and I want to be able remember how perfect it felt marrying you." I explain my mind all over the place. "So Naomi Campbell, love of my life, mother of my children would you do me the honour of marrying me again?" I ask hoping I don't sound like a rambling idiot.

"Yes" she says smiling widely at me before mashing her lips against mine. She's still all sweaty and her lips taste a little salty but this is another perfect moment to add to the list.

"Can I hold him again before the mobs arrive?" I ask having only held Bradley Ryan Fitch-Campbell for a minute or so since he was born.

"Of course babe sorry" she says handing me the bundle in her arms carefully. I shuffle closer to her leaning against her as I hold this tiny little life that had been growing within her for months. I bring him up to my chest leaning forward and kissing him inhaling his scent. He starts to fuss opening his mouth and letting out a small cry.

"Shhh" I sooth him pulling him closer to my chest so he can hear my heart. "It ok baby you're mummies are right here." He continues to fuss a little; Naomi brings her arm around to cover mine. He's now being embraced by both his mothers and it seems to help settle him.

"This ones a little attention seeker" I say smiling at her, apparently that was something I couldn't stop doing today.

"Yeah think we're going to have our hands full with him and Kelly" she replies bringing her free hand down to softly stroke his cheek.

"Mmmm" I say kissing her on the shoulder where my head is leaning.

"Mummy, Mumma" Kelly screams running into the room destroying our quiet moment. I smile at her utter excitement. I hand Bradley back to Naomi motioning for Kelly to climb up beside me. I didn't want her hurting Naomi with all her excitement.

"Bradley" Kelly says leaning over and gently stroking his hair in a fashion similar to that she did Chessie's. "Love you" she says leaning closer and pressing a sloppy kiss to his cheek causing more tears to well in my eyes. I look to Naomi catching her looking at me, tears in her eyes too. I can tell we're both marvelling at the perfectness of this moment. I mark it off as number three for the day and wonder how long the streak can continue.

**Well there we go mammoth chapter. Hope you liked it. I don't have any knowledge of any landmarks in England Bracknell was found on Google maps and I choose it because I played Lady Bracknell once in the Importance of being Ernest. Comments would be great. I have a feeling the next chapter will be the last of this story. I do think I'll add few random snippets from the future at some stage though because I just can't help but imagine the kids as they get older. Thanks to those who are still following loyally. :)**


	27. Chapter 27

"Ems you know I'm not up for that at the moment" I say as I'm woken by my shirt being tugged upwards.

"Shhh I'm just trying to feed Bradley" she says continuing with her task.

"What" I say forcing my eyes to open. I take in her form kneeling on the bed with Bradley.

"Bradley you know our son the one who was born last week" she says though her voice isn't as playful as it could be.

"Sorry Ems just didn't hear him wake up" I explain sitting up with great effort trying to keep my eyes open. Emily hands me our fussing son and sits down next to me. She puts her arm around me and her hand underneath Bradley's head.

"Its ok Nai sorry I snapped, I'm just tired, we both are that's why I was trying not to wake you" she says.

"Not even I can sleep through you undressing me Ems. It's only been a week and I'm already so tired. You might not be the only one who forgot about all these sleepless nights." I reply lifting Bradley to my breast. Emily strokes his cheek gently causing him to open his mouth and begin his feed.

"I still can't believe he does that when we stroke his cheek" Emily says leaning into me running her hand over Bradley's orange curly locks.

"Yeah" I say managing to let out a small laugh despite my tiredness. "You think if I stroked your cheek you'd do the same thing?" I ask letting out a tired yawn.

"I think we both know you don't need to stroke my cheek to get me to do that Nai" she replies as we both look at our feeding son. Despite the early hour and my incredible tiredness I manage to smile at the moment. Bradley had been keeping us constantly busy since his birth a week ago. When Emily and I weren't attending to him we were spending time assuring Kelly that she was still just as important to us as she had always been. She actually seemed quite pleased with Bradley's arrival and spent lots of time helping care for him.

He was definitely a lot fussier than I remember Kelly being. He was never content just having one of us for comfort if he could have both Emily and I. It was nice to feel so wanted but I was glad neither of us had to go to work at the moment. We were still looking for the perfect location for Emily to start her non profit centre but we had no daily obligation other that our children.

"You still awake" Emily asks from next to me her hand still softly placed on our little guys head just the way he liked it. He seemed to be able to tell if it was my hand instead of Emily's.

"Mmmm" I respond as I switch Bradley to my other breast. Emily shuffles her position so she can remain in contact with him.

"Isn't it amazing how much he's grown already?" she asks laying her hand on his stomach gently letting it rise and fall with his breath.

"Yeah he's getting so big and clever already" I agree looking at her for a second and smiling as she looks back. She returns my smile and I can see by the effort it's taking her that she's just as tired as I am.

"Ready to burp him Ems?" I ask. I move Bradley from his feeding position, where he is finished; up to kiss his forehead before passing him into Emily's waiting hands. It was a routine we had established with Kelly. Emily would feed her and I would burp her. It gave us both a chance to be a part if that piece of her day and bond with her. The same thing would hopefully work with Bradley.

"He baby boy" Emily coos as she brings him to her shoulder. "How's my favourite guy? Have you got a nice full tummy little man?" she says rubbing his back gently. I pull my shirt back into place now that my duty is done at least for a few hours. I shuffle back down into a lying position resting my head on Emily's outstretched legs. I let myself begin to drift back to sleep enjoying the sounds of Emily's soft words to our son.

"Naoms sweetie" I hear I couldn't be sure how much later "Babe I need you to move so I can put Bradley back in his crib." Emily explains her reason for waking me. I must have only been out for a few minutes enough time for her to finish burping him.

"He can stay here" I mumble back eyes still closed head still rested on Emily's legs which are extremely comfortable.

"Need to change my shirt too Nai, I've got some baby puke on me" she replies stroking my hair gently apparently thinking it might encourage me to move. In fact it relaxes me even further making me want to stay right where I am even more.

"Just take it off and lay down Ems, you can't go anywhere you're all warm and soft." I protest making no action to move.

"Ok well your going to need to hold him for a minute then" she replies handing me our son.

"Hey my boy" I say cradling him gently and kissing his head all with my eyes still closed and head resting comfortably against Emily's legs. I feel her moving apparently taking off her shirt.

"OK Nai I'm done" she says and I hear her shirt hit the floor somewhere away from our bed.

"Mmm" I say handing Bradley back to her and moving so she can lay down. Once she's lying down I snuggle into her side and rest my hand on Bradley who's laid comfortably across her chest.

"Love you Ems" I say kissing her shoulder.

"Love you too" she replies.

"Sorry baby boy but you aren't going to get what you need from me" I hear Emily say as I make my way back from sleep land. I blink to take in a view of Bradley trying to suck Emily's breast. It gives me an understanding of her words. I sit up slowly trying to force my body to wake up.

"Come here buddy" I say taking him gently from Emily and adjusting my shirt so I can feed him. He gurgles and looks up at me expectantly.

"You sound like a happy boy this morning" I coo to him. "Can't blame you buddy your Mumma's breasts are quite nice aren't they. She's nice to sleep on too eh" I say kissing his forehead before letting him begin feeding.

"Naomi perhaps talking to our son about my breasts isn't the best thing to be doing" Emily says leaning against me and cupping her hand under Bradley's head.

"Babe breasts are a big part of his world right now plus he doesn't understand it yet. He just likes hearing our voices." I reply smiling at her.

"While that may be the case I'd still prefer not to talk about my breast with our children" She states both of us looking towards the bedroom door as a very perky three year old makes her way towards us.

"Morning Kel" I say as she climbs onto the bed and into Emily's arms.

"Morning Sweetie" Emily greets her.

"Morning Mumma and Mummy" Kelly replies smiling. She looks down at Bradley her smile growing even wider.

"Morning Bradley" she says kissing his forehead. Over the last week Kelly had shown what an amazing big sister she could be. She was so caring and kind, and I couldn't help but think how lucky we were. The only thing Kelly wanted nothing to do with was nappy changing and to be fair I didn't blame her.

"Mummy me want some milk too" she says pointing to her feeding brother. I look at Emily for a second seeing if she has a better idea of how to explain this than I did. She looked like she didn't have a clue what to tell Kelly.

"We can get you some milk from the fridge Kel" I reply hoping this will appease her.

"No. Want that one" she replies shaking her head and pointing at Bradley.

"Sweetie your brother can't eat food like us right now and he needs Mummy's milk to make him big and strong. You are already our big strong girl sweetie" Emily explains doing a very good job in my opinion.

"Me used to have milk like Bradley?" she asks a frown on her face.

"Yip Mumma used to feed you just like this when you were little like Bradley" I reply. Kelly seems happy with this nodding and closing her eyes as she leans against Emily's chest apparently happy enough she wants some more sleep.

"It's not negotiable Naomi. It's hard having a baby plus there's Kelly I can see you and Emily haven't had anytime for yourselves. He's three weeks old and one of you has been with him that whole time. Apparently you've still been giving Kelly the time she needs because she seems just fine. I can only assume you've had no time for the two of you. I'm staying here with my Grandchildren and the two of you are going to have some time for yourselves." Mum says given me a stern look. She was right. Over the last two weeks I had noticed me and Emily not only talking less but when we did talk their was often a snappiness to the tone. Its not that we didn't want to be spending time with each other or we wanted to fight, its just we were still trying to establish a routine for Bradley and were so tired all the time.

"Can't mum Bradleys due for a feed in two hours plus I promised Kelly that we could bake a cake this afternoon" I protest.

"Kel how would you like to bake a cake with Nana this afternoon" Mum asks our daughter who is on the floor playing with her soft toys. At Mum's words she looks up.

"I like baking with Nana" she replies crushing my excuse for the need to stay here.

"It's settled then you two will go spend some time together for a couple of hours and I'll stay here." Mum says not leaving any room for negotiation.

"But" I say searching for another reason not to leave my Baby boy for the first time in his life.

"I know it's hard to leave your baby for the first time but it has to happen sometime. He's going to be sleeping most of the time anyway and I can cope you know." Mum explains.

"It might be nice to have a couple of hours together Hun" Emily says taking my hand. I look at her. She looks worn out much like I'm sure I do. Despite this she still looks beautiful and I can't deny spending quality time with her would be nice.

"Look I'll give you the keys for home. Feel free to go there and watch TV or take a nap. Go for coffee or go talk about this wedding because I bet you've had no time for that yet. I don't care what you do as long as you go spend some time together."

"Ok thanks mum" I say knowing there is nothing to make her change her mind."

"Yeah thanks Gina" Emily says. She pulls me up to our room where Bradley is asleep in his crib. We still hadn't moved him into the nursery yet as we liked having him close when he woke in the night. I look down at his sleeping form. I bend forward and kiss him.

"Love you my baby Mummy will be back soon I promise" I say. Emily bends over kissing him too and whispering something I don't hear.

"Come on Nai" Emily says as I stand staring at Bradley.

"Bye Kelly we'll be home soon" Emily and I say each giving her a kiss as we're ushered out the door by my mother.

"What now" I ask as Emily and I sit in the front of my car. Emily looks at me a little unsure.

"Is it sad that I miss them already?" she asks quietly.

"It might be Ems but I miss them both too. I am pleased to be with you though" I say taking her hand in mine and kissing it.

"Come on lets go to Mums talk about wedding plans eh?" I say starting the car and pulling out onto the road.

"Nai?" Emily questions as we pull up outside the house mums lived in since my last year of college. "We're ok right. I mean we've been a bit short with each other lately but you know I still love you right?" she says making me smile. She really was the sweetest person.

"Ems of course we're ok. We've got a new baby and it's hard on both of us but it doesn't change how I feel. I love you Ems. It was hard right after Kel was born but we got through then and we'll get through now. Besides if we don't work at it apparently my mother's going to ensure we do" I say. I get out of the car and walk around to her side opening the door. I put my hand out for her causing a smile to grace her features.

"Wow where did all this chivalry come from?" she asks as I shut the door behind her. 

"Maybe I've just missed my girl" I reply pulling her into my arms for a tight hug. It feels good. We haven't been touching enough lately not in my opinion anyway. It felt good to be surrounded by her warmth. I'd gotten a lot of cuddles lately from Kelly and Bradley and those are amazing. When I hugged them I felt needed and depended upon. When I hugged Emily on the other hand I felt safe, like the two of us could do anything together. I reluctantly let go leading her inside and upstairs into our old room. I lay down on the bed smiling up at Emily.

"I thought we were going to plan our wedding Naomi" she says as I pull her down on top of me.

"We are Ems, we may as well be comfortable while we do it though right?" I giggle kissing her cheek causing her to start giggling too. I escalate her giggles further by tickling her lower back where surprisingly she's incredibly sensitive.

"Stop it" she whines through her laughter. I look at her wondering if I should respond to her request. She's looking at me pleadingly lips pouted and I decide my time would be better spent kissing them than tickling her. I still my hands laying them on her lower back and pulling her closer before placing my lips on hers.

Eventually the two of us pull back breathless. She rests her head on my shoulder and I bury mine in her hair.

"So my love have you had any ideas about our wedding?" I ask eventually not moving from the comfortable position I'd found myself in. I feel her smile against my shoulder at my question.

"I was thinking just a small intimate ceremony in our backyard" she says. It's like her answer has come right out of my head. I'd decided that I was going to let Emily have whatever wedding she wanted. I already had the memories of a beautiful wedding to my beautiful girl. Our first wedding had been a large family affair. We had included some decorative touches to please Katie and Emily's Mum. It was definitely more lavish and extravagant than I would have chosen but I still had the most amazing day. Emily turned up, looked beautiful and said yes. That was all that really mattered to make it my perfect day. Now it seemed my beautiful girl wanted to have a simple ceremony. It really did sound perfect. I could almost see the two of us standing beneath the tree in our backyard. I could picture Kelly in sweet wee dress. I could also see Rob and James firing up a barbeque for the reception feast.

"You're pretty quite their Nai. Does that mean you don't like that idea?" Emily asks as I'm lost in the beautiful pictures in my mind.

"No sweetie in fact the complete opposite. It sounds absolutely perfect, I was thinking about how great it will be." I reply taking her hand in mine. I twist her engagement ring round in circles on her finger.

"I can't wait till your wedding rings back here where it belongs" I say looking at the spot I know is meant to hold the symbol of our love. She reaches up to her neck where the band has hung for some time now.

"Yeah I'm looking forward to that too, although I think we may just need to get another one each too" she says looking down at my hand. "I think another ring would look pretty good on your finger, and I know another one would look good on mine" she says cheerfulness to her tone.

"Whatever you want my girl." I say moving to kiss her gently.

"No that I'm complaining but how come I get whatever I want but we tell Kelly no on a regular basis" Emily asks curiously.

"Because she's our daughter, it's our job to teach her about life. To show her you can't always have what you want when you want it. You have already learnt that Ems. Plus most of what you ask for is fairly reasonable" I reply.

"Yeah so if I said I wanted to hire Elton John to sing at out wedding?" she shoots at me.

"I'd have to give you the choice between Elton and the ability to feed and clothe our family." I reply causing her to laugh.

"I love you" she says kissing me softly over and over again on my neck so she doesn't have to move. I just smile relaxing in the warm sun coming from the window and the flowery scent of Emily's recently washed hair.

"Shit" I say sitting up and blinking. I look down at my shirt seeing small milk stains starting to appear. They made it pretty clear we'd been asleep for awhile and Bradley was over due for his feed.

"Ems" I coo stroking her face softly with my thumb. "Ems sweetie" I say a little louder leaning in to kiss her at the same time trying to wake her nicely.

"What, where am I" she mumbles opening her eyes clearly disorientated.

"Shh, it ok Ems, just we fell asleep at Mum's. We need to get back home now, Bradley's due for his feed.

"Sorry" I yell as we run through the door ten minutes later. The clock reads 4.30 so we're half an hour later than we promised we would be. I expect to hear a wailing baby as we enter but instead I hear the happy sounds of Kelly's laughter. We both enter the living room to find my mother making up stories for Kelly on the couch. Bradley's cuddled comfortably in her arms. He doesn't seem distressed at all.

"Hello my daughters" she greets a grin on her face "the two of you both look a little lighter than you did before you left." She points out. I look at Emily and smile. It was weird we really hadn't even done anything and yet just doing nothing with Emily had seemed to make it all better.

"Yeah thanks mum" I say walking over to gently take my son from her. "You were right we did need it" I concede. "Now though we need to feed this little goblin, cook dinner and do a load of essential washing." I declare sitting next to Emily on the couch across from Mum. Bradley begins to fuss as soon as he realises that it's possible for him to be fed. I smile talking softly to him as I arrange my bra and give him what he wants.

"Actually love there's a lasagne cooking in the oven and I did a couple of loads of laundry while you were out. Ones all dry and put away and the other is still in the dryer." She replies with a smirk.

"Wow" Emily says from beside me "where did you find all the time to do that?" she asks.

"Well I've been sleeping a good solid eight hours each night, its surprising how little time things take when you have the energy required to perform them." She muses. "You going to tell your mothers what we baked" she continues looking at Kelly.

"We baked banana cake" Kelly proudly announces.

"Wow that's great sweetie I can't wait to have some after dinner" I say as Emily nods agreeing with my statement.

"Morning beautiful how are you today?" I ask.

"Morning Babe, how do you know I look beautiful when you can't even see me?" she asks over the phone and I can picture a cheeky grin plastering her face.

"I know you my love and I know I've never seen you not look beautiful" I reply smoothly.

"Shut up you big dork" Emily says her tone light and she giggles at the end.

"Sorry if you don't like being called beautiful all you had to do was say" I tell her. "Besides you didn't answer my question how are you this morning, got anything special planned for your day?" I ask thinking of all the answers Emily might come up with to my question.

"I'm good, nothing too special planned you know just getting married to some chick" she replies causing a smile to break out over my face.

"Just some chick is she, why are you marrying her then, there's a lot of chicks out there" I ask jiggling Bradley who's currently fussing in my arms.

"Well there maybe but I've got it on good authority that this chicks amazing in bed and produces particularly cute offspring." She replies making me laugh.

"I see so its all about her bedroom abilities and her adorable children is it. I guess that's as good a reason as any." I reply letting Bradley grab my finger, course as soon as he does it automatically goes to his mouth. I smile down at him for a second as he sucks happily on my finger. It seems like he gets bigger everyday. He's four months old now and I can already see little things he's picked up from Emily and me. I can also see that he has a unique personality of his own. As I look down at him he releases my finger and smiles up at me kicking his legs I tickle his tummy and he giggles at me.

"Is that my little man?" Emily asks apparently hearing him over the phone.

"Yip he's giggling at his mummy aren't you little man. Can you giggle for your mumma too baby?" I ask tickling his tummy again and holding the phone closer to him so Emily can here.

"Aww hey my baby boy" I here Emily say sweetly over the phone. Bradley hears it too due to the fact its closer to him. He stops laughing and looks at the phone apparently figuring it's the source of his mother's voice.

"ahhhahh" He gurgles back at Emily.

"Is that right buddy? Mumma missed you last night hunny" she says causing me to laugh. I take the phone from where I've got it close to Bradley and return it to my ear.

"Missed a broken sleep did we Ems?" I ask jokingly. To be fair for the last two months Bradleys sleeping had been getting longer and with less interruptions. He could now sleep solidly from 10pm till 2am when he liked to be fed and after that he'd sleep through till 5.30am.

"Laugh all you want Nai but I woke up at 2 and I couldn't get back to sleep till I knew the two of you would be" she replies making me smile.

"Aww you should have called Ems, we missed you too" I say and instead of receiving a reply from Emily I hear her being told off in the background.

"Ems I don't care if you're already married" I hear Katie say with force. "You want this to be like the wedding you can't remember and I had to take the phone off you so you couldn't talk to Naomi then too. This is a good sign Ems, this wedding going to be just as good as the last one" Katie says with a little more kindness in her tone.

"Naomi" she says directly into the phone now "you know the drill bitch, I have to stop you two from talking cause we all know you're a twat and you might say something stupid that will make her call the whole thing off. I don't care that you're already married and have been for years I'm just doing my job and making this as much like the first one as possible" she says and I can tell she genuinely cares about making this day perfect for Ems.

"Yeah I remember the speech from last time Katie. I know you want to make it as much like the last one as possible. I however would be quite happy if we could not repeat the part where you get flaming drunk in celebration and throw up all over the gift table." I say laughing at the entertainment Katie had provided.

"Naomi seriously you make it sound much worse than it was. I threw up in the crystal salad bowl which by the way was the gift I gave you which I then replaced with a brand new even better one." She bites back.

"Yeah I know Katie its just so much fun to tease you about. Anyway I know I'm not allowed to talk to Ems but is Kelly round? I'm still allowed to talk to my daughter right?" I ask. I've missed Kelly this morning. I'm so use to having her stroll into our bedroom when she wakes up. Course I'm also used to having a warm sweet smelling woman tucked in with me and that was missing today too.

"Yeah I guess you can talk to Kel" Katie agrees. "Kelly" I hear here yell apparently calling her from another room of the house.

"Mummy" Kelly says excitedly putting a smile on my face. I had a feeling it was going to be a fairly permanent fixture today. I mean how many people got to not only marry the love of their life once but had the chance to do the whole thing again.

"Baby Girl. How's my favourite three year old today?" I ask.

"Good aunty Katie cooked us pancakes for breakfast. I like pancakes" she announces.

"That's nice of your aunty sweetie. What about Mumma is she there?" I ask her knowing that Kelly will have no problem being the messenger between me and Emily.

"Yeah Mumma here me sitting on her knee" Kelly informs me.

"Can you tell Mumma something from me baby girl?" I ask kindly. I hear Kelly move on the other end of the phone presumably nodding her head.

"Can you tell Mumma that I'm moving Bradleys cot into the nursery today sweetie?" I ask and listen intently. I hear Kelly tell Emily just what I've asked. I also hear Emily laugh at the news.

"Can you tell Mummy it's about time sweetie" I hear Emily instruct our daughter.

"Mumma say it about time" Kelly replies.

"Yeah she might be right about that sweetie. Can you give Mumma a kiss for me and tell her I'll see her this afternoon." I hear her give Emily a sloppy kiss and smile as I picture the scene in my head. I hear Emily whispering something but can't quite make out what she's saying.

"Mummy, Mumma says she loves you and she is looking forward to it." Kelly relays.

"Aww I love her two sweetie and you too. I can't wait to see the beautiful dress that you, Mumma and Aunty Katie picked for you to wear." I tell her. Not only was Emily's dress being kept a secret from me but so was Kelly's. Emily, Kelly and Katie had all been out shopping together to find their outfits. I'd been left to find something for Bradley and me to wear. Katie had taken pity on my though and assisted me in finding something beautiful. She had an iron will though and refused to give anything away about either Emily or Kelly's outfits.

"Me no wear dress Mummy. Me choose tucky-doe like Grandpa." She replies. I'm a little shocked that Kelly hadn't chosen a dress to wear. She loves shopping and lots of pink and lacy dresses adorn her wardrobe. At the same time I can imagine how absolutely adorable she's going to look in a little tuxedo.

"Wow I can't wait to see your tuxedo then Kel." I wait for her reply but once again I hear Katie Fitch interfering.

"Kelly I need to speak with your Mummy ok?" she asks apparently Kelly nods because next thing I know I'm back on the phone with my sister in law. Or is that soon to be sister in law, hell I wouldn't know anymore. Tonight though everyone will be who they should be again, I'll be able to call Emily my wife with certainty that, that's who she wants to be.

"Naomi, I leave the room for two seconds and while I'm gone you manage to trick your daughter into telling you what she's wearing." Katie says a little bit of annoyance present in her tone.

"I didn't trick anyone Katie, I just told her I looked forward to seeing her dress. This prompted her to tell me she chose a tuxedo like grandpa instead." I explain.

"Its ok Aunty Katie" I hear Kelly call in the background, I didn't tell her about my purple vest and bowtie" she says apparently trying to save me from her Aunty.

"She's wearing a purple vest and bowtie?" I ask tears springing to my eyes as I imagine how grown up she's going to look in her outfit.

"Are you crying Campbell" Katie asks laughing "Gosh having a family has made you such a sap." She says though I can tell that in the way she's said it, it's meant to be a good thing.

"Shut up, I only gave birth four months ago my hormones are still all over the show. Plus it's my re-wedding I'm allowed to be sentimental." I reason with her.

"Yeah I guess I'll let you have that one" Katie says "but I won't let you speak to Kelly or Emily anymore because all you're doing is getting information from them that should be a surprise." She says though her tone is light and friendly.

"But I miss them, me and Bradley are all alone, we miss our girls" I whine knowing that it won't get me the privilege of talking to them again but hoping it might allow me a quick goodbye.

"They miss you two, but by my calculation your Mum and Effy will be there in about half an hour to start getting ready and Bradley's probably about due for a feed too. Which means you don't have time to play happy families over the phone right now, neither do we. I've got to start getting everyone's hair sorted. So I'll put you on speaker to say your goodbyes and then we'll all see you at two" she tells me and I can see there is no room for argument.

"Ok Katie" I say before I hear the noises in background grow louder and presume I'm on speaker phone.

"Bye Ems, I love you can't wait to see you. Bye my little Munchkin love you." I say and hear my family repeat my words before the phone is hung up.

"Ooooo" Bradley says looking up at me.

"Yip that's right buddy it's just you and me again. "Or we could go against your demanding Aunties orders" I say putting the cordless home phone on the coffee table and pulling my cell phone out my pocket.

_Hey Ems I swear Katie's taking this wedding even more seriously than the last one. Hope she's not being too much of a drill sergeant to you or Kelly. Aren't I clever finding a way around her rule. I feel pretty stupid though because I never even thought of texting you last time. I blame it on nerves and nothing to do with my intellect which we both know is impeccable. Anyway I love you and I'm going to show you how much tonight. I do believe we have about four months to make up for. How did we let that happen? :p_

I type out on my phone and send the message to Emily.

"See isn't your Mummy smart baby boy" I coo at Bradley. He gurgles in response and then jumps in surprise as my phone sounds alerting me to a new message.

"Sorry did that frighten you buddy" I say bringing him from his position in my lap to lay him against my shoulder and soothingly rub his back. With my free hand I open the message on my phone and sigh as I see what it says.

_Nice try Campbell, really think I didn't think of that. I did last time too by the way so it wouldn't have been any use. Four months seriously wow. I didn't know you could last longer than four days. Anyway gross I don't want to know what you're planning on doing to my sister tonight so rack off and get ready. Emily has been shown your message but all future ones will be censored by me. That means go get ready and do not contact us unless of an emergency. P.S Emily looked pretty happy at the prospect of breaking the dry spell. _

"Aww well sweetie it really is just you and me till Nana and Effy arrive. How about we fed you and then Mummy will challenge you to a burping contest" I say tickling Bradley under his arm as I do. He lets out a delightful little giggle and squeal.

"Yeah I think it's a pretty good idea too" I reply to his reaction.

The music begins and I look toward the entrance to our back yard in anticipation. The whole place has been done up beautifully. There were four rows of chairs on each side of the yard with an aisle down the middle edged with pots of lavender. I was standing in front of the magnolia tree that was in full bloom. There were beautiful purple petals scattered beneath my feet that had been provided not by human hands but by nature. I liked this it made me feel like the earth was on our side, approved of what we were doing today, no mater how stupid that sounded.

I was pulled from my musing about the idyllic environment that our back yard had been transformed into by the first sight or my little girl. Kelly emerged through the wooden gate that had been decorated with greenery. Since our talk this morning I had been trying to imagine what her outfit would look like. I hadn't done a very good job. She looked picture perfect. Her tux was black but the jacket had deep purple pockets and lapels. Underneath it she was wearing a white shirt and over this a waist coat and bowtie the same purple as that on the jacket. Katie had done a beautiful job on her hair and it was put up into a stylish bun with small curls falling down around her face. She wasn't wearing any make up; I had voiced my dislike of the thought of that. I wasn't a fan of young children being dressed up like teenagers. Other parents could do it if they liked but my child wasn't being a part of it. Kelly starts walking towards me throwing the rose petals she's been given as she does.

"Mummy" Kelly says as she reaches me trying to snuggle into my leg, my dress preventing her from doing so.

"You did good sweetie and you look very handsome in your suit. You want to go sit with Nana and Grandma now" I say pointing to where they are in the front row ready with a few toys to keep her entertained. She nods happily and wanders over to them. I look back to the aisle which Katie was now halfway down.

"Man I'm glad you let me choose my own dress Nai" Effy whispers from her place beside me. "I'd have hated to end up in something like that" she continues referring to the dress Katie was wearing.

"Effy" I scold "she chose her own too by the way." I inform Effy wondering what problem she sees with the dress anyway. I think Katie looks quite nice, very mature and sophisticated.

'It's not that it's not nice, its just she's barely showing any leg how does she expect people to know she's trying to pull in that?" Effy asks.

"She's not Ef, she's got Mark" I whisper back.

"True, I keep forgetting, I guess after so long with many different blokes its hard to remember how much she's changed" Effy replies. I'm about to agree with her when Emily comes into view on the arm of her father. Taking in every detail of the way she looks suddenly seems much more important than talking to Effy.

She's wearing an exquisite ivory strapless dress. It hugs her top half tightly before fanning out just under her hips. Her hair has been put up in a similar style to Kelly's and I'm struck with just how similar they both look today. As she slowly gets closer to me I feel tears start to roll down my cheeks. I'm also able to take in more details like the heart shaped pendant she's wearing and the naturalness of her makeup. She winks at me as she sees me looking and I wink back eager for her to reach me.

"Hey" she says softly as Rob takes her hand and places it into mine.

"Hey" I reply knowing I must look like a mess next to her perfection. "Sorry about this" I say gesturing to Bradley who's cuddled against my chest. "The plan was to have mum hold him but he's suffering from some separation anxiety today. Cried bloody murder every time I tried to hand him over, I think it's because he's missed his Mumma" I say.

"Its ok" Emily assures stroking his hair softly "If anything the baby makes you look even more beautiful. You did a good job choosing his outfit" she says gesturing to the tuxedo printed onesy he's wearing.

"If I'd know what Kelly was wearing I'd have made more of an effort. I'm sure one day he'll look back at the photo's and feel inadequate that his sister looked cuter in a tux than him." I reply. Emily gasps at my statement.

"That's a matter of opinion, I think they both look adorable. Plus its fine he'll get along just great in this family where his uncles legs look better in a dress than his mothers." She replies.

"Again a matter of opinion" I state "I'd vote for your legs any day" I say but laugh at her comment.

"Are we ready ladies?" the minister asks. We both turn and smile at her nodding to indicate for her to begin.

"Mrs Fitch Campbell" Emily says walking up behind me and wrapping her arms around my waist.

"Mrs Fitch Campbell" I reply smiling and leaning back into her. I put down the plate I was filling with food and turn around in her arms so I can embrace her too.

"Kids ok?" I ask resting my head on her shoulder and inhaling her fruity perfume. She nods against me and begins swaying to the soft music floating around our backyard.

"Can we dance for a bit before you eat?" she asks slowly moving us to a more open space that had been cleared for dancing.

"Yeah course" I reply pulling her closer to me and kissing her lips softly before placing my head on her shoulder again. She returned the gesture kissing my neck several times before whispering my name into my ear.

"Mmmh" I respond eyes closed enjoying the moment.

"It's ok. I'm ok with it" she says causing me to open one of my eyes and turn to look at her in question.

"My memory, it's ok that I can't remember everything from the past. It's ok because right now I'm seeing our future and it's looking pretty damn good" she says.

**Well there we go sorry is took so much longer than usual. This is the last official chapter of this story. Its how I've seen it ending for a while. Despite this I do think there may be future snippets of the families life added sometime because I can't help but imagine how Bradley and Kelly might grow up. For those of you asking about Kelly's possible abilities the feedback on that was split so I tried to leave it to you to decide. If there are future scenes of her you may no longer get to make that choice. Hope you enjoyed the ending. Thanks so much for reading and for all the feedback. I've had heaps of fun writing this hope you've also enjoyed reading it. **


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